Death of Marvin Schur

Marvin Schur (c. 1916 - c. January 17, 2009) was an elderly resident of Bay City, Michigan and World War II veteran. who died from hypothermia in his home.
Background
On January 13, 2009, Bay City Electric Light and Power, Bay City's wholly owned municipal power company installed a "limiter" device to restrict the receipt of power to Schur's home, likely contributing to his death from hypothermia in his home a few days later. The power company restricted the home's energy consumption due to Schur's failure to pay outstanding bills, purported to be in excess of $1,000.
Life
Schur, or "Mutts," was a retired foundry worker who lived alone, his wife having died several years prior. The couple had no children. Schur was a medic in the South Pacific during World War II and earned a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in combat due to enemy action.
Death
According to Bay City Manager, Robert V. Belleman, a worker with Bay City Electric Light and Power installed a "limiter" outside of Schur's house, a device that restricts the delivery of power. It is meant to compel customers with delinquent bills to address this delinquency. If further power consumption exceeds a certain limit, the power automatically shuts off. The device can be reset and power restored when that happens, but for some reason, Schur apparently did not do so. It is unknown whether he tried and failed to reset it himself, nor whether he requested assistance with the device.
The limiter was installed on January 13, 2009, and Schur's body was found four days later on January 17, 2009, by neighbors who stated they believed that the elderly man may have been suffering from dementia. The neighbors also stated that they saw a utility bill on his kitchen table with a large amount of money clipped to it, indicating Schur's apparent intention to pay the bill. The temperature inside the home was less than 32 degrees. One of the neighbors, George Pauwels Jr., told a newspaper, "His furnace was not running, the insides of his windows were full of ice the morning we found him."
According to an Associate Press report, an autopsy was performed by Dr. Kanu Varani, who performs autopsies for Bay County and numerous other Michigan counties. The cause of death was determined to be hypothermia. Varani is quoted as stating, “Hypothermia shuts the whole system down slowly. Its not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they’re burning.” Schur, who was found wearing a winter jacket over four layers of clothing, was said to have died a slow and painful death. Despite having conducted about 15,000 autopsies, Varani also stated that he had never seen a person die of hypothermia while indoors before Mr. Schur.
In a statement released by Bay City on January 29, 2009, the City indicated that Schur's home was heated by a natural gas furnace with service provided by Consumers Energy Company. Apparently, the natural gas had not been shut off, leading to the possibility that the furnace may have malfunctioned. It was also reported that Schur's telephone service had been discontinued, which perhaps further contributed to the incident.
Legacy
On February 4, 2009, as a further aspect of the circumstances of his death, it was revealed that Schur had willed his entire remaining estate, purported by family members to be in excess of $500,000.00, to the Bay Medical Center for the benefit of the hospital and residents of Bay City. Other sources reported that the cash hoard amounted to $600,000, and noted that large quantities of money were paper clipped to the utility bills that had gone unpaid.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu