Faith, Family and the Open Road

After decades of motorcycle travel, the Rev. Dr. Joe Shumate ’51, M.Div. ’54, has seen every corner of the map — all 50 states, every Canadian province and parts of Mexico. This fall, the road led him back to Stasavich Place at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Born in Staunton, Virginia, and raised in a Lutheran parsonage family, Shumate first attended Roanoke College before transferring to LR, where a pastor helped him find housing near campus. He soon moved into Highland Hall, joined the tennis and track teams, and became a waiter in the dining hall. “I enjoyed my time at LR very much,” he said. “It was a close community, and we all knew each other.”

Shumate arrived at LR planning to study pre-med, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, a country doctor. “Somewhere along the way, I realized that wasn’t where my heart was leading me,” he said. “I felt called to the ministry, and LR helped me see that calling more clearly.”

He enrolled at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and graduated in 1954. Shumate served parishes throughout North Carolina and Virginia, which included launching a new congregation in Roanoke and leading a newly integrated church in downtown Portsmouth during the 1960s. He remembers the work as both meaningful and challenging.

“I felt comfortable in the downtown area, even as the community was going through some profound changes,” Shumate said. “We had people from all walks of life, and I was proud that our congregation could be a place where everyone was welcome. Those were difficult years in many ways, but they were also some of the most rewarding.”

This year, Shumate’s travels brought him back to Hickory to ride in the Homecoming parade on his bright red Honda Gold Wing. His sister and fellow Class of 1951 alumna Kathleen Shumate Tucker rode alongside him in the sidecar. The sight of the pair drew cheers from the crowd — a joyful nod to both their love for LR and the sense of adventure they’ve shared through the decades.

“I’m excited about coming back, and I haven’t been to a Homecoming parade in a long time,” Tucker said before the event. “Probably the last time I was in a Homecoming parade, I was marching through downtown Hickory carrying the baritone horn. This time I get to ride!”

A music major who transferred to LR from Marion College, a junior college in Virginia, Tucker spent two years in Hickory immersed in music studies and campus life. “My years were full of music and the other required courses,” she recalled. “As an organist, I’ve been playing somewhere since I was 16. I think I was the first to major in organ at LR.”

After graduation, she went on to a long career as a first-grade teacher in Winston-Salem, earned her master’s degree from UNC Greensboro, and served as church organist for five decades at Epiphany Lutheran Church. She continues to volunteer with the American Red Cross and with relief efforts in southwestern Appalachia. “It was a busy life,” she said. “Now I’m retired, and it’s still a busy life.”

Tucker and her husband often traveled with Shumate and his wife, Liz, on camping and motorcycle trips — she and her family in their camper, Shumate and Liz on the bike. They stayed in touch by CB radio along the way. “We had a wonderful time,” she said of one memorable trip to Alaska. “It was a lot of fun. The highway was bumpy and had no guardrails. We jostled along through the potholes, but only lost a taillight from the camper.”

For Shumate, those shared adventures began with an unlikely new passion he picked up in his 50s. “I had a bicycle growing up but didn’t have much use for motorcycles,” he said. “I bought a used Honda 350 from a friend, and when it got to 45 miles an hour it would start vibrating. We bought a larger bike and took our first trip in 1978 to New Orleans. My wife and I strapped our suitcases to the back — we looked like ‘The Beverly Hillbillies.’”

That first trip led to years of exploration. The Shumates took to the highways every summer, logging thousands of miles each year. “We made eight trips to the West Coast and two to Alaska — one all the way up to the Arctic Circle,” he said. “It brought a greater sense of knowledge than I had before. Meeting people and seeing how they lived, especially in areas like Mexico and Alaska, has really enhanced my view of the world.”

Now in his 90s, Shumate still enjoys short rides around the hills of Wytheville, Virginia, where he has lived for most of his life. He added a custom-built sidecar to his 2008 Gold Wing — the same one he rode in the parade — for balance and comfort. “It’s completely enclosed,” he said. “You can take the windows out or remove the roof, but it can be totally closed in.”

While the road has taken him far and wide, coming home to LR still holds a special joy. “It’s been quite a journey.”