Charles Phillip Shore

Charles Phillip Shore

On May 30, Charles Phillip Shore, 83, of Ellicott City, MD passed away at Howard County General Hospital due to complications from pneumonia. Phil was born in 1938 in Rural Hall, North Carolina to the late Charles Henry Shore and Lillian Brewer Shore. He spent his early childhood in NC before moving to Norfolk, Virginia and graduating from Norview High School. Phil continued his education at Virginia Tech, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, and he carried his Hokie pride throughout his life. Upon graduation, Phil returned to Tidewater to begin his career as a research engineer at NASA-Langley. He continued his work in the aerospace program until his retirement in 1995 and was especially proud of his contributions to space shuttle materials research. After retiring, Phil embarked on a fulfilling math tutoring career. He was a member of First Lutheran Church in Norfolk where he occasionally served on council and was a newsletter proofreader. 

Phil’s greatest love was his family. He was married to the late Judith T. Shore in 1965, and together with Judy, raised their family in the beautiful, wooded neighborhood of Sleepy Lake in Suffolk. Phil’s joy for living, enduring positive attitude, and sense of humor are carried on by his three children: Steven Shore (Evelyn) of Jacksonville, FL, Crystal Moran (Mark) of Columbia, MD, and Cindy Salopek (Phil) of Clarksville, MD. He shared his love with five grandchildren: Scott Salopek, Kristoffer Shore, Charles Moran, Joshua Moran, and Caroline Salopek. Phil was thrilled by the birth of his first great-grandson, Sutton Salopek (Scott and Taylor), this past November. He also is survived by a sister, Brenda Tharp (John), of The Villages, FL. Since moving to Maryland, Phil was happy to spend as much time as possible with his family, more recently enjoying sojourns to Ocean City, NJ, New York City for a Broadway show, and James Madison University to see Caroline dance. Time spent with Poppa was always filled with stories…about summers working on his grandfather’s tobacco farm in Carolina; memories of his dad who he sometimes helped with carpentry, Boy Scouting adventures, and other tales that ensure he will never be forgotten. 

A celebration of Phil’s life will be held at 12 PM on June 18, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 7607 Old Sandy Spring Road, Laurel, MD 20707. Visitation with family begins at 11:00 and will continue at a luncheon following the service.   

Feeding the hungry and the displaced was important to Phil. In lieu of flowers, please consider World Central Kitchen or your local food bank for a donation in his memory. 

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