Guy Winfield Shumate, Jr.

Guy Winfield Shumate, Jr., devoted and loving husband, son, brother, uncle, brother-in-law and friend entered into his eternal home in Heaven on December 27, 2025.

He was born on July 13, 1949, in Cecilia, KY, to Guy W. Shumate and Marguree Small Shumate. He grew up on a farm, near a small town. His early life consisted of family, school, sports and outdoors - baseball, basketball and rural life. He excelled in academics and athletics, but especially baseball. He made the decision to pursue a career in engineering, so off he went to the University of Kentucky, earning a degree in mechanical engineering and further studying bioengineering. However, this was during the Vietnam era. He decided that he should honor his country and joined the Army, a tribute to his uncle who served under Patton in World War II. Just 10 days before being sent to Vietnam, the war began shutting down. He decided to accept an offer for an engineering position in Pensacola, FL, where he began his career in the business world and completed his military obligation in the Army reserve. While busy designing and building chemical, pharmaceutical and power generation projects, he met his future wife Suzanne. It just happened that she played golf and invited him to play in a tournament at work and his own love of the game was born. He said playing golf was like baseball, and the best part was you were always up to bat. Work continued and he was instrumental in developing a method for designing and building plants in modular form for chemical, oil and gas and pharmaceutical companies around the world. The whole plant could be constructed in a controlled environment and then shipped to the site and operating in a matter of days.

He was the beloved husband of Suzanne Shumate for 43 wonderful years. Together, they built a home filled with love, laughter and strong faith. They enjoyed traveling together, hunting, golfing and seeing and photographing God’s beautiful creations. They experienced many adventures and created great memories that Guy loved to share.

Everything Guy did, he did with passion. He was brave, true and honest. He lived fearlessly, loved deeply and passionately and never backed down from a challenge. He was a great encourager…and he could make you believe in yourself. He had a heart for those who needed extra help. Giving back was important, so he was involved in church and community activities. He especially enjoyed supporting children’s charities. His favorite was the Miracle League of McComb, a baseball league for children and adults with special needs. He also contributed one of his wildlife photographs for the Junior Auxiliary of McComb to auction to support Camp Sunshine every year.

He was fiercely competitive, wanting to achieve perfection in everything he did. He loved a project or a problem. He would find a solution, establish a plan and then follow the plan until success was achieved. This was true for everything he did, from his career as a Mechanical Engineer, playing sports, a home project or anything that needed “fixing”. He also loved working with people and building a team.

He was a man of strong faith and was a deacon at First Baptist Church, McComb, MS. He enjoyed the fellowship and love of this church and all the ways they serve the community. He looked forward to decorating the church for Christmas and Easter every year and was a part of their security team.

The past few years have been difficult as he faced his health challenges, but he did it with the same ‘look it in the eye’ determination to beat it. As he knew in the end he wasn’t going to win that last battle, he accepted it with grace and worried about those he would leave behind. He knew where he was going. He ran the race, he fought the good fight, he kept the faith.

Preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Marguree Shumate; brother, Robert J. (Bob) Shumate (Linda); and in-laws, Guy and Nell Presley.

Guy is survived by his wife, Suzanne Shumate; sister, Carolyn Williams (Don); niece, Susan Bowen (Greg); great-nephew, Jason Bowen and his son, Gage Bowen; great-niece, Jessica Hendricks (Alan) and their daughter, Annie Opal Hendricks; sister-in-law, Deana Presley, and a host of friends.

Family and friends are invited to attend his visitation on Friday, January 2, 2026, at First Christian Church, 415 Delaware Ave, McComb, MS, from 10:00 a.m. until the Celebration of Life Service at 11:00 a.m. Dr. David Millican will officiate the services.

The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the Hospice of Baton Rouge for the exceptional care, kindness and compassion they provided to Guy and his family. The “host of guardian angels” as Guy liked to call them included; Renae, Rhi, Tiffany, Erica and Mary. Also, to caregivers, Cynthia McGowan and Ursula Dorsey, who were there for us, day and night, we can’t thank them enough for their loving care and kindness.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First Christian Church, 415 Delaware Ave, McComb, MS, honoring his faith and love for his church family or to The Hospice of Baton Rouge.