Visitation Scheduled for Longtime Wheaton Resident

George H. Shorney, 80, died peacefully on March 31, 2012 in Naples, Fla., after a three-year battle with lung cancer.

George was born on Dec. 16, 1931 in Oak Park. He was a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School and Denison University, and served for two years in the U.S. Navy. He married Nancy Leith in 1955, and they settled permanently in Wheaton in 1960. Nancy died in May 2011.

In 1958, George went to work for Hope Publishing, a family-run church music publishing business. He served as Hope's president from 1970-1991 and chairman from 1992 until his retirement in 2001. George was heavily involved and highly regarded in the church music publishing world, serving four terms as president of the Church Music Publishers Association. He was instrumental in revitalizing, and later became a Fellow of, The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. He developed strong professional and personal relationships with prominent hymn writers from around the world. In 2002, he received an honorary doctorate from Westminster Choir College.

Over the years, he was a member of numerous boards in a variety of fields, including Central DuPage Hospital, Gary-Wheaton Bank, Denison University, Westminster Choir College, Fire and Police Commissioners (Wheaton), The Christian Century Foundation, Fourth Presbyterian Church (Chicago), and the Epworth Church Association (Ludington, MI).

George was a World War I enthusiast, and an avid Chicago sports fan, particularly the White Sox, Bulls, and Bears. He was a great family man, serving as "patriarch" to the extended Shorney family, presiding over holiday dinners and family gatherings with a twinkle in his eye.

George is survived by three siblings, Martha (Mig) Johnson, Sylvia (Sib) Ellis, and Bill Shorney; his children and their spouses, Cindy and John Pearson, Herb and Fanny, John and Lisa, Scott and Susan; and his grandchildren, Isabel, Henry, Jack, Lily, Georgie, Charlie and Roger.

A visitation will be held at Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Rd. in Wheaton on Monday, April 16, from 4 to 7 p.m. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, April 17 at 2 p.m. at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut, Chicago. Memorial gifts may be made to the CDH Foundation, 27W353 Jewell Rd., Winfield, IL 60190.

For more infomation, call 630-668-0016 or visit www.williams-kampp.com .