Francis Joseph “Shot” Shelton, 104, of Mertzon, passed away peacefully at his home Saturday morning, after a brief illness. Shot was the longtime owner and operator of Shelton Oil and Gas in Mertzon and Shot’s Convenience Stores located throughout the area.
Services are 10 a.m. Tuesday at Sherwood Cemetery, with the Rev. Denise M. Bloomquist, minister of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Mertzon, officiating. Arrangements are with Robert Massie Funeral Home.
Shot was born Feb. 13, 1910 on the Mike Wiggins Ranch in Knickerbocker to Robert Samuel Shelton and Mamie Ruth Wagner. He had three brothers and four sisters.
Two years later, the family moved near Mertzon to work on the Fayette Tankersley farm. Then they went to Sanderson, where Shot attended school, before the family moved again to Stiles. It was here that Shot was attending school when, at age 17, he quit to work as a cowboy in the Pecos River country, an occupation he held for three years.
After he quit cowboying, he moved to Sherwood and it was at this time that Shot began learning the business of operating a service station — working for his uncle Mike Wagner in Sherwood — and where he met his future wife, Lorena Burney, in 1929.
Shelton married Lorena Feb. 6, 1931. The couple worked for Wagner and then eventually leased and operated the station until the U.S. entered World War II. Then the couple moved to Fort Worth where they both worked for Consolidated Corporation, he as a mechanic and she a radio inspector for military bomber airplanes. Following the war, they returned to Mertzon to Wagner’s station. After a time, together they established Shelton Motor Company.
The couple remained in Mertzon, having a son Burney in 1952, who eventually worked with Shot to develop the company into Shelton Oil & Gas, a distributorship and small string of convenience stores.
Lorena passed away Oct. 31, 2004, after 70 years of marriage.
The business was eventually sold to Town & Country Food Stores Inc.
Shot is survived by his son, Burney, several cousins, nieces and nephews and countless longtime friends and neighbors in the area.
The family would like to thank Sue and Gary Manning, Teresa Roche, Tanya Taylor, Blaine Shields, Stella Wolfenbarger, Hospice of San Angelo and Dr. David Harvey, all of whom played a role in the love and special care Shot received during the last few years.
His cowboy days gave Shot his unique nickname when he was known as an ace at shooting rabbits on the open range.
“They called me Shotgun Charlie,” he told a reporter on the occasion of his 100th birthday. “Then they cut it short, to Shot. But some of my friends still call me Shotgun. That’s stuck with me for a good long time.”
Shot was known for his generosity and civic-mindedness, donating countless uniforms and equipment for sports teams and sponsoring many of the local school’s sports and cheerleading participants in out of town competitions as well as helping out families in need with private donations. He was a member of the local Masonic Lodge and Lion’s Club. He served on the local school board.
Shot enjoyed a great social life in Mertzon the last few years, receiving visitors on a regular basis and spending his days thinking about the gardening efforts on his family’s ranch. Shot thoroughly enjoyed the two community-wide parties, on his 100th and 104th birthdays, which were well-attended.
FACTS
Born: February 13, 1910
Death: May 10, 2014
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