Robert C. Schurman

SCHURMAN, ROBERT CLAYTON, radio station owner and sportscaster; b. 5 December 1925 in Melrose, Massachusetts, son of Benjamin Colin Schurman and Grace Lavinia Rankin; m. 6 August 1945 Lois Eleanor Macdonald, and they had three children, Marsha, Brent and Paul; United; d. 15 January 1973 in Summerside. Schurman, a Liberal, was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the general election of 1970 for 4th Prince. He was appointed Minister of Community Services on 24 September 1970, and Minister of the Environment and Tourism on 1 December 1971. He served as Minister Responsible for Communications from 1971 to 1972. Schurman's family moved from the United States to Summerside when he was six years old. He attended Summerside Elementary and Summerside High School. In 1947 Schurman began his radio career as an announcer for CGHS, which later became CJRW. In 1952 he was named general manager of CJRW and, in 1953, vice-president. He acquired control of the station in 1957 and became president and general manger. Schurman also worked as a sportscaster for CJRW, and for 12 years could be heard broadcasting various sporting events from many Maritime centres. He often served as a Master of Ceremonies for civic, provincial, and regional functions. In 1986 he was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame. Schurman served as an elder and finance chairman of Trinity United Church in Summerside, and was a choir member and soloist with his church. He served as president of the Prince Edward Island Tuberculosis League, vice-president of the Prince Edward Island Music Festival Association, government liaison and a member of the Confederation Trust. In 1973 he was chair of the Prince Edward Island Centennial Commission. He was a member of the Summerside Industrial Commission, and was a president and chairman of the board of the Waterfront Development Corporation, a president of Summerside Y's Men's Club, a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and the Masonic Lodge, as well as a volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society. An accomplished athlete, Schurman excelled in baseball and hockey, and was inducted posthumously into the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame. He contributed to the development of sport in the Summerside area, as a volunteer with the Summerside Recreation Commission and the Summerside Minor Hockey Association. He also helped organize the annual international friendship hockey series between Natick, Massachusetts, and Summerside. Robert Schurman died 15 January 1973 at the Prince County Hospital. Lois Schurman, the daughter of Norman MacDonald, was born in St. Eleanors.