05/05/2000
By Joe Simnacher
Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
Dr. Herbert Shore, a nationally recognized pioneer on caring for the aged, died Wednesday of leukemia at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He was 74.
For nearly 40 years, Dr. Shore was administrator of Golden Acres Home for the Jewish Aged in Dallas, which he helped open in 1953.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Temple Emanu-El Sanctuary, 8500 Hillcrest Road in Dallas. He will be buried in Temple Emanu-El Cemetery.
Dr. Shore is believed to have been the first gerontologist in Dallas.
"When he came to Dallas in 1953 . . . there was no field of long-term care, there were no associations, there was no group of people you could go to and learn," said Ken Durand, president of the CC Young Memorial Home in Dallas.
Dr. Shore's influence reached far beyond Dallas. He was founder, past president and award of honor recipient for the American Association of Homes & Services for the Aging.
"Today more than 7,000 people attend our national meeting who are active participating administrators," Mr. Durand said. "Seven hundred to a thousand of those were his students. That's impact."
Dr. Shore was a mentor and consultant on aging, taught at the University of North Texas and also was known for his humor.
"So I've had three or four careers," he said last year in The Dallas Morning News . "My family's favorite joke is that I've flunked retirement."
Born and raised in New York, Dr. Shore first came to Texas in 1944 to serve in the Army Air Forces during World War II. After being stationed in San Antonio for 2 1/2 years, he vowed not to return.
"When I was discharged in November 1946, I said I would never, never, never, never, never, never set foot in Texas again," he said. "The lesson from that is, never say never."
After the war, Dr. Shore returned to New York, where he earned a bachelor's degree from the College of the City of New York in 1948 and a master's in social work from Columbia University in 1952. He also earned a doctorate of education from North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas, in 1969.
"When I went to Columbia, I was the first student to ask to work with the elderly," he said.
While he was studying social work, Dr. Shore had a job at a Brooklyn community center that cared for children.
"I said to myself, 'Anybody can work with kids, but who's interested in old folks?' "
After graduating, Dr. Shore was assistant executive director for a large nursing home in Chicago, when he was asked to come help open Golden Acres in Dallas.
"We came up with a five-year plan," he said last year. "If I succeeded in Dallas in five years, I would move up and go somewhere else; if I failed, I would find something else to do."
But at the end of Mr. Shore's five-year visit, Green Acres was growing. He wound up retiring from the home in 1990.
During his tenure at Golden Acres, Dr. Shore had transformed a small 50-bed home for the elderly into a retirement community with nursing facilities, independent living areas for retired people and a senior center that was home to 550 people.
Mr. Durand said that Golden Acres has a national reputation as a premier home for the aged.
Last week, in Presbyterian Hospital, the Community Homes for Adults Inc., which Dr. Shore helped found in 1982, gave him its first Most Valuable Player Award for his longtime support. The honor will be officially awarded May 18.
Dr. Shore's long list of accomplishments includes founding the Senior Citizens of Greater Dallas. He served on commissions on aging for the city of Dallas, the state of Texas and the nation.
He taught sociology at UNT, where he helped establish the Center for Studies on Aging. He also taught throughout the University of Texas system.
Dr. Shore is survived by his two daughters, Debra Shore of Skokie, Ill., and Wendy Shore of Dallas; a son, Andrew Shore of Mountain View, Calif.; a sister, Sadye Woghin of New York; and three grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to the Dr. Herbert Shore Fund at the Community Home for Adults Inc., 634 Preston Royal Shopping Center, Suite 214, Dallas, TX 75230; Temple Emanu-El, 8500 Hillcrest Road, Dallas, TX 75204; or Golden Acres, 2525 Centerville Road, Dallas, TX 75228.