Gena Rae (Johnson) Shores went home to her Lord and Savior on September 17, 2022, with her husband, Frank, at her side at their home in St. Joseph, Missouri. She was a caring wife, mother and sister, blessed with five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Gena Rae was born to George and Cleo Johnson on May 20, 1936, in Elgin, Nebraska. She graduated from Elgin High School in 1954.
On April 14, 1957, Gena Rae married her high school sweetheart, Frank Shores, in Elgin. They had three children: Jackie, Mike and Kim.
Family was always the center of Gena Rae’s life. In addition to her own three children, she cared for numerous foster children.
She also helped mentor children through the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and various schools and churches. Nothing brought a smile to her face like getting together with her children, their spouses, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
After tracing her lineage back to the 1200s, Gena Rae turned the hobby of genealogy into a wealth of knowledge and skills upon which others relied to learn their own family histories.
She taught genealogy courses at Missouri Western, became the first president of the Northwest Missouri Genealogical Society and was the editor of Buchanan County History Volumes 1 & 2.
Whether it was to visit family or explore a place they had not been, Gena Rae and Frank loved traveling together. In total, they covered all 50 U.S. states and nearly 20 different countries.
Gena Rae often penned hand-written letters or cards to the people who were special to her. She also enjoyed the craft of cross-stitching, which produced many gifts for family and friends over the years.
Gena Rae was preceded in death by her parents; son, Mike; brothers, Duane and Gary Johnson.
She is survived by her husband Frank; children, Jackie Graham (Steve), Kim Jacobs (Bill) and daughter-in-law, Debbie Shores; grandchildren, Danielle Byrne (Nathan), Darrell Jacobs (Nicki), Stephen Allen (Kirsten), David Graham (Kelly) and Emily Zickefoose (Nathaniel) and great-grandchildren, Jacob, Conor and Grant Byrne, Delanie, Callie and Dalton Jacobs, Bowen and Jordan Graham and Ben and Natalie Zickefoose. She is also survived by her brother Rick Johnson (June), sisters-in-law, Carolyn Johnson and Joan Dickau; several nieces and nephews— and a pup named Korky.
Services will be Friday, September 23, 2022, at 11:00 am at Heaton-Bowman-Smith & Sidenfaden Chapel in St. Joseph. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Savannah Cemetery, Savannah, MO.
