Douglas Wayne Shoulders, Sr.

Douglas Wayne Shoulders was born in Orlinda, Tennessee, on September 27, 1939. He was the oldest son of six children born to Joseph Edward and Hazel Lorene (Bush) Shoulders. His parents were farmers, raising tobacco, strawberries, and various other crops. Wayne and his siblings worked hard on the family farm. Wayne met the love of his life, Thelma Shoulders, in South Florida in 1957. They were married on March 11, 1960, in Bainbridge, GA. Doug, their first son, arrived the next year. Their second son, Johnny, arrived almost two years later. Life was not easy, but Wayne learned a great deal from his father-in-law, Johnie Johnson. Mr. Johnson taught Wayne simple skills like how to sharpen a knife properly, and more important things like how to love and lead a family and how to follow Jesus. Always a very hard worker, Wayne spent time working in many different occupations, most notably as a commercial fisherman and an over-the-road truck driver. He and Thelma lived most of their lives in Tallahassee but spent some of their early marriage in Port Salerno, FL, and Cleveland Ohio. Port Salerno is where they lived when Wayne truly came to understand what it meant to follow Jesus, was baptized, and started trying to live a more sedate life. It is also where their daughters, Karen and Peggy, were born. When the family moved back to Tallahassee, Wayne began ‘toting trailers’—moving mobile homes—and eventually realized his childhood dream of becoming an over-the- road truck driver. Wayne drove trucks for over thirty years as an owner-operator. When he first started driving semis, CBs were a trucker’s way of communicating, so he chose “Lucky Hobo” as his “handle”. He said he was just a hobo until he met Thelma and meeting her made him the luckiest hobo of all. During his time driving semis, Wayne was inducted into the Million-Mile Club, having driven well over a million miles, and was given multiple safety recognitions. Wayne said he loved driving semis because he always wanted to see what was over the next hill. Early on in his driving career, Wayne met another driver named John Russell. This fellow believer and his wife, Wilma, became very close friends of Wayne and Thelma. Throughout the years, John was a constant in Wayne’s life. From the early years of driving trucks to his faithful visits and prayers as both he and Wayne aged and their health declined, John’s story has been woven together with Wayne’s. Both have lived out the description “brothers in Christ,” through the good times and the bad. Wayne recognized long ago that God was ever-present through his journey of life. From his difficult childhood to his time as a wild young man, through the years of raising his family and his empty nest with Thelma, and on into the later years of old age and decline, he worked hard, provided well, and led his family with integrity. The difficulties of his early life faded as Wayne met Thelma, was welcomed into her family, and learned to love others and follow Jesus. Over sixty-six years of faithful marriage stands as testimony of that love. That legacy was handed down by Thelma’s parents--a legacy that Wayne and Thelma handed down to their own four children and their niece, Brandy. Doug said it well at Wayne’s 80 the birthday party, “Daddy taught us to be the same person at home as we were around other people. He taught us integrity.” Wayne’s earthly life has come to an end, but his heritage, his legacy, lives on in his wife; in his children—Doug (Lorie), Johnny (Vickie), Karen (Scot), and Peggy (Mark); in his grandchildren—Jed, Hannah (Jared), Elijah (Veronica), Jonah (Sam), Josiah, Wesley (Sarah), Cody (Jasmine), Caleb, Nathan (Carrie), Joseph (Hannah), Christiana (Marcus), Jeremiah, Samuel (Maggie), Isabella, Arabella, Demi, Jonathan (Heather), Daniel (Alaina), Sarah, Matthew (Emalyn), Timothy, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Rachel; in his greatgrandchildren—Charlotte, Eli, Ethan, Ella, Jireh, Ethan, Benjamin, David, Josiah, John, Audrey, Abigail, Benjamin, Sophia, Stephen, Hadley, and two more little ones on the way; and in his special niece Brandy (Danny) and their large family. He is also survived by four of his siblings: Joyce (Kenneth), Larry, Peggy, and Davey (Karen). It will be said of Douglas Wayne Shoulders that he worked hard, that he loved Jesus, and that he loved his family. To God be the glory.

Douglas Wayne Shoulders, Sr.

September 27, 1939 - July 28, 2026