University employee John Shores – known in the workplace for his scholarship, caring outlook and plentiful candy dish – was found dead in a disheveled InTown Suites hotel room Saturday.

“As you might imagine, it’s a sad day for us,” said Bill Crowe, director of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. “John was a good employee, and a good guy and someone we’re going to miss.”

Crowe’s sentiment resonated with some of those who knew him. Don Reagin, public relations coordinator for Campus Life, worked with Shores for 13 years.

“For those of us who worked together for that many years, you become a family,” Reagin said. “This is like losing a family member.”

Reagin said Shores was the “class clown” of the office. Whether he was teaching an administrative assistant how to do karate kicks in the hallway or jokingly editing colleague’s press releases for an incorrect use of the word “overwhelming,” Reagin said Shores was a coworker who just “made you feel good.”

Reagin also recalled Shores’ memory – one that could summon seemingly-obscure dates of meetings a decade before.

“He was the kind of person who paid attention to everything,” Reagin said. “He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Georgia Center and the University.”

Ashley Meijerink, account manager for the Center for Continuing Education, worked with Shores for the past five years. She said he was trusting, funny and showed a genuine interest in the lives of his coworkers – although he kept his own life fairly private. But when it came to his editing job as the editorial and production manager in the Center for Continuing Education, he was serious.

“He is, honest to god, probably the best editor I’ve ever worked with,” she said, flipping through a stack of papers that were heavily edited by Shores’ signature red pen and yellow highlighter. “You liked him the minute you met him.”

Besides his thorough editing, Shores was known for his sweet tooth – marshmallow Peeps, Blenheim Ginger Ale and a big bowl of chocolate candy.

“There’s no telling how much money he spent on candy through the years to feed his coworkers,” Reagin said.

Shores worked at the Georgia Center for 22 years, rising to the position of editorial production manager where he edited Georgia Center publications.

“I felt that if John saw it, it was 99.99 percent accurate – the quality of his work was just tremendous,” said Annette Ogletree-McDougal, assistant director of marketing and communications for the Center for Continuing Education. “For the department it’s a huge loss – not just because of the work, but because of the person that he is.”

Shores was found in his InTown Suites hotel room at 2044 S. Milledge Drive about noon Saturday.

“We found him deceased in his room at what used to be the Suburban Lodge – now the InTown Suites,” said Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson. “It was an extended stay type of facility. I understand he’d been there for several months.”

According to the report from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, Shores was found “sitting on the floor between the bathroom and the wall, wearing rubber gloves.”

Two open bottles of rubbing alcohol were found on a nearby table, and when the police arrived on the scene, it appeared Shores had not been dead for long.

According to the coroner, it will take some time to determine what exactly occurred.

“I’m really still processing it; a lot of us are still processing it,” Reagin said, adding Shores’ legacy would be “less about his death and more about what it was like being around him on a daily basis.”

Shores’ coworkers launched a fundraiser to purchase a brick in his honor on the Path of Lifelong Learning – a commemorative brick path at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

But for others, his greatest testament will be his sense of humor.

“To me, that’s a wonderful legacy to leave, and he has left that kind of legacy – a legacy of laughter,” Reagin said.