Editor’s note: We received this obit just prior to our press deadline and plan to reach out to community leaders to get comments on the life of Charles Shuman. The editor offers her own words in this article.

The man behind most of the Liberty County Recreation Department and what it meant for the youth in our community has passed away. According to an obituary received Charles M. Shuman (Big Shu), 87, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 28.

Shuman was born in Ellabell, married the love of his life Jackie Martin and they had one son, Jack.

Shuman started the Hinesville Athletic Association and the Liberty County Recreation Department; served as Senior Teen Club Advisor; he organized Liberty County’s first Fast Pitch Softball Team; he was President of Liberty Independent Troop; Director of the Liberty County Adult Softball League; served as Cub Scout Pack Master; served as a member and past president of the Hinesville Jaycees, was named Jaycee of the Year in 1967, and won the Jaycee Presidential Award in 1967 and again in 1969; named Liberty County Young Man of the Year in 1970; won the Distinguished Service Award in 1971; he was State Recreation Director of the Year in 1974; Chairman of the Hinesville Planning Commission; Charter Member of the Cherokee Rose Country Club; Christmas Parade Marshall in 2004; in 2001 the Charles M. Shuman Gym at James Brown Park was established in his honor; he served as President of the Hinesville Cemetery Trustees; founded the Liberty County Hall of Fame; received the Sertoma Club Service to Mankind Award in 2010; he was a devoted and faithful member of the Hinesville First United Methodist Church for sixty-five years; and was a member of the A.G. Overman Bible Class.

“Charles was devoted to the youth in this community,” Courier editor Patty Leon said. “Whenever I ran into him, he spoke highly of the people at the LCRD, all their accomplishments and all the youth who started their careers at the LCRD and made their ways into post-secondary schools on scholarships. He was humble yet proud of what the LCRD accomplished for the youth in Liberty County. He will be sorely missed.”

Visitation will be from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. today (Dec. 1) at Carter Funeral Home Oglethorpe Chapel. Funeral services will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 2, 2021 at Hinesville First United Methodist Church. Burial will immediately follow in Hinesville Cemetery.

Read the full obituary here.