Eleanor Harper Shoemaker

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our beautiful daughter Eleanor Harper Shoemaker who on June 12th 2024 ended her fight with necrotizing enterocolitis in a draw. 

 A deeply wanted child, Eleanor was diagnosed with Spina Bifida during our 20-week anatomy scan at Ft. Belvoir’s military hospital in February 2024. At their recommendation, we moved our care to Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD where we learned her diagnosis was more complex. Eleanor was diagnosed with OEIS (omphalocele-exstrophy-imperforate anus-spinal defects) that same month. It is considered the most serious birth defect compatible with life. After much research and consideration, we moved our family's care again to The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. It was there our family began regular visits with a team of specialists who would be caring for Eleanor during her journey. 

 Eleanor was born into this world at The Johns Hopkins Hospital on Friday, May 10th, 2024 at 9:33 in the morning to Dr. Michael Shoemaker and Mrs. Samantha Shoemaker and weighed 5lbs 14oz, measuring 17 inches long. The following Monday, May 13th, 2024 Eleanor would undergo her first surgery to correct her cloacal exstrophy. Before her operation, she was baptized a Christian by Chaplain Tasha Brownsfield. Dr. Isam Nasr, Dr. Mollie Freedman-Weiss, Dr. Chad Crigger and their team successfully operated on Eleanor giving her a way to pass stool which would allow her to live a normal life. 

 Over the next month, Eleanor would spend her days in the NICU in the care of countless nurses including Fiona Jardin, Jordan Meewes, Jeanne Myers, and Jovita Bindel, physicians such as Khyzer Aziz and Jennifer Fundora, as well as several other providers who would ensure she received the best care available in modern medicine. Eleanor’s favorite activities were being held, listening to her parents read her stories like Winnie the Pooh, Sherlock Holmes, Grimm Fairy Tales, Peter Rabbit, and the Bible. She loved looking at the world around her and learning to grab things with her hands. She will be remembered for her incredibly strong grip, strong will, and sheer determination to overcome any obstacle. 

The family would like to invite people to meet Eleanor and hear her story through a celebration of life that will be held on June 29th from 1100 to 1300 at the Johnson County Funeral Chapel located at 11200 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS 66210.

We ask that all who attend wear colorful attire in celebration of our child who could only see a world of black and white.

We request, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the Johns Hopkins NICU and Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation in Eleanor’s name to carry on her memory.

Believe in Tomorrow: https://believeintomorrow.rallybound.org/Eleanor

Johns Hopkins NICU: https://secure.jhu.edu/form/children (Sutland/Pakula Gift Fund)