After 83 years, Gregg Shivers has left Hull, Texas.
Clarence Gregg Shivers was born in Hull, Texas, on October 5, 1940, and died in Hull, Texas on July 4, 2024.
He was the eighth and youngest child of Lonnie and Lelia Shivers and lived all his life in what he considered the hub of the universe. Gregg’s childhood was full of adventure as he ran alongside his closest brothers, Byron and Alfred Shivers, collectively called the “Black Gnats,” and their friend Ralph Hendricks, “The Red Wasp.” When the brothers got older, their shenanigans became more sophisticated. Gregg drove an old jeep, as brother Byron water-skied behind in the flooded ditch. Gregg told how Byron stepped out of the skis and lengthened his stride when he reached a culvert.
When Gregg was an older teenager, he was on his way to an event which required him
to wear a suit. He stopped by Besto’s Drive-In where he was served a coke by his future wife, Jimmie Ruth Chalfant Shivers. She was smitten by how well he cleaned up. He may have been headed to a wedding, or as Gregg’s nephew remembers him mentioning “going to plant a relative” near that time, maybe it was a funeral he was headed to. That attitude toward death is shared amongst the Shivers family. Death is part of life and if you know Jesus, it’s not a bad thing.
Gregg married Jimmie Ruth Chalfant on May 5, 1962, in Hull, Texas. Soon after, they bought Gregg’s father’s business, Shivers Rigbuilders, and made a life in Hull, Texas. Gregg worked as hard as he played. Together, Gregg and Jimmie successfully expanded the oil field service business. They later incorporated and changed the business name to Shivers Enterprises to reflect the additional services they offered. They made a life together working, playing and serving their church and community.
Gregg sought to make Jimmie’s dreams come true for 62 years. He built the house she designed for their family and took her on trips around the world. He helped her with community projects such as decorating the town for Christmas and Vacation Bible School. Together, Gregg and Jimmie built a grandfather clock from a kit. When the church replaced the stained glass windows and pews, Gregg joined the two to create a framed window for Jimmie’s kitchen. Only recently has Jimmie needed to call a repairman, as Gregg was capable of fixing or replacing anything that broke. The number of things, big and small, that Gregg did as a devoted husband for so many years cannot be enumerated. Projects, repairs, and regular maintenance work flowed in a never- ending stream. More important was his constant companionship, so valued that even at the end Jimmie’s greatest desire was to be able to keep talking to him, and to hear his voice.
In service to his church, First Baptist Church of Hull and later First Baptist Church of Liberty, Gregg helped teach the kindergarten Sunday School class, served as a deacon and performed numerous repair projects. The crane he had bought to help grow his business came in handy as several area churches needed new steeples installed. When the church flooded, Gregg was there to remove the carpet and pump out the water.
Gregg worked on numerous projects at Lake Tomahawk Christian Retreat Center near Livingston. He acquired the concrete supports leftover from the Trinity bridge replacement and used it to build the foundation for a deck that was eventually incorporated into the dining hall. Gregg facilitated the ability for visitors to stay in their RVs at Tomahawk by installing water and electrical hookups. In addition to physical projects, Gregg and Jimmie assisted leadership by serving on the Tomahawk board of directors.
Many extended family members and residents of Hull-Daisetta were the benefactors of Gregg’s ability to get things done. When a tree needed trimming or completely removed, Gregg was there with his chainsaw and boom truck. When a ditch was stopped up, Gregg, with shovel in hand, became a human backhoe. Though he had no sons, he assisted the local Boy Scout troop with their projects.
Gregg and Jimmie raised three daughters in Hull: Shelli Ellerbe, Beth McBroom and Rebecca Forames. The girls grew up with the best of fathers, as he always sought to make their dreams come true and taught them life lessons along the way. When Beth’s tricycle wheel broke, Gregg made a wooden replacement until he found a lawn mower wheel that was the right size. When Shelli wanted to raise an animal for FFA, he repaired an old barn and bought her a heifer from the King Ranch. Rebecca remembers their daddy teaching her to read and learn hymns by pointing at the words in the hymnal as the congregation sang.
After Gregg retired in 2001, he built a wood-working shop and his daughters continued to recognize him as the one who could get anything done. They came to him for help with all kinds of projects, such as building a game board and a box to hold it. After seeing a Texas-shaped wall-hanging made from reclaimed wood selling for an exorbitant price, Gregg decided he could make his own, as well as dozens more for family members and anyone who wanted one. He used wood from the old Rex Supply building, an old wooden oil tank from the Batson oil field and Jimmie’s great-grandmother’s dogtrot house to make Texas-shaped decor.
Gregg’s parents, Lonnie and Lelia Shivers, and all his siblings, W.G. “Dub”, Mitchell Lee, Ethylene Sikes, Lonnie Glenn, Robert, Alfred and Byron predeceased him.
Gregg leaves behind his wife, Jimmie; his daughters and their husbands, Shelli and Steven Ellerbe, Beth and Tim McBroom, and Rebecca and John Forames; his grandchildren, Benjamin Ellerbe and wife Sarah, Christopher Ellerbe and wife Jessa, Gabie Forames-Su and husband Thomas, Natalie Forames-Ussery and husband Brian, Brenna McBroom and Tyler McBroom; his great-grandchildren, Elijah Ellerbe, Austin Ellerbe and Matthew Ellerbe; his sisters-in-law, Leslie Shivers, Pat Shivers, and Inez Shivers; many nieces, nephew and cousins and his devoted dog Kate.
Gregg’s body may be planted in the ground, but because he trusted Jesus as his Savior, his spirit is already with Jesus.
Gregg will be missed by his family and he wouldn’t have left, except to go to Heaven. Only Jesus could get Gregg Shivers to leave Hull, Texas.
Visitation Friday
July 12, 2024
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
First Baptist Church of Liberty
602 Main St
Liberty, TX 77575
Funeral Service Saturday
July 13, 2024
10:00 AM
First Baptist Church of Liberty
602 Main St
Liberty, TX 77575
Cemetery
Cooke Cemetery
Liberty, TX 77575