The Weaver Family

By now, most people are familiar with the story of Marvin Schur, the 93 year-old Bay City Michigan man who froze to death in his home, after the local electrical company put a power “limiter” on his home and it ceased to function and the power went off.  People from across the country responded in anger, and frankly I can’t blame them.  and I wrote about it.  I mean he was four months in arrears, but why after so long did they not bother to even contact him.  And no they didn’t contact him.  The tragedy was that when the neighbors found him, the bills were on a table with money paper-clipped to them for the bills to be paid.

That’s the worst of it.  The irony is what follows.  It now seems that the Bay Regional Medical Center, is the sole beneficiary of Marvin’s will, to the tune of approximately $600,000.  And if one reads the article at MLive.com,  there is one interesting quote from Bay City Commission President Christopher J. Shannon, 1st Ward:

“I’ve known for some time he had the ability to pay.  That’s why it’s so frustrating for us, in that, here’s a guy that has money and he’s literally freezing to death in his home, and it wasn’t necessary.”

Really, Mr. Shannon,  you knew Mr. Schur financially had the ability to pay, yet he wasn’t paying?  You have interaction with the locally owned power company, and didn’t bother to investigate or even make physical contact with Mr. Schur when he couldn’t be reached by telephone?  Truly sir, are you an idiot? Don’t bother answering that question, you’ve already done so by your lack of actions.  It took state regulators to step in to further limit power shuts during winter months so that this doesn’t happen again.

I am glad Marvin’s money goes to something useful.  But I will say this,  I think his lawyer ought to have stipulations put on that money so that the hospital can only use it to help the impoverished elderly people that need care.  I also think the lawyer should have oversight of that money until it is gone.  Marvin’s death should mean something.  And by regulating that money for care for the elderly it starts giving a good meaning for an otherwise meaningless and unneccessary death.

Marvin,  may you rest the rest of the righteous.

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Who is Marvin Schur?  He was a World War II veteran, a pattern maker, and a widower.  He was 93.  He died a slow, painful death from hypothermia.  He died unnecessarily.

Marvin Schur lived in Bay City, Michigan.  He was found January 17, frozen to death in his home in sub freezing temperatures, by his neighbors.  It seems Marvin got behind in his electricity bill payments; four months behind and somewhere to the tune of $1100.   What is interesting is that the neighbor that found Marvin’s body said that there was money paper clipped to the bills.  So a worker from Bay City Electric Light and Power was told to place a electric limiter on Mr. Schur’s home on January 13.  Apparently this worker never made contact with Marvin to tell him what he was doing, or to make sure he knew how to use this device or what to do if it quit operating.

Now the question is who is responsible?  And I would like answers to some questions.

1. If Bay City Electric Light and Power already left Marvin fall so far behind in his bill, why did they bother to even put a limiter on his home?  Why did they not contact him and find out why he hadn’t paid his bill.  Remember his neighbor said that there was money attached to the bills to be paid.
2. When Bay City Electric Light and Power had the limiter put on Marvin’s home, why did they not make sure that the worker contacted Marvin and explain what was happening.  If the worker contacted Marvin and saw that there was a lack of understanding or that there was dementia further steps could have been taken to get help.
3. Why did Bay City Electric Light and Power feel the need to even cut back on his power during the coldest part of the year.  After four months of non-payment they finally decided to take action against a 93-year old man?  This is a man who most likely has limited mobility and can’t get out easily.
4. Bay City is supposedly a small town atmosphere.  Where were his neighbors?  They felt free to check on him after a couple of days, but by then it was too late.  They knew he was an elderly gentleman.  Winters in that area are hard on anyone, let alone a 93 year old man.

Reading the two articles Bay City Man Freezes to Death and Marvin Schur’s Death Preventable, I am forced to the conclusion that no one will probably be held accountable.  Why?  Because legality, and moral/social obiligations often are on two separate tracks.  The power company most likely did nothing legally wrong.  But morally and socially,  that’s a different story.  And the community.  They were absent too.  That is the worst part of the story.   Everyone’s pointing fingers, no one is going to accept the blame.

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