Lewis F. Shull

LEWIS FREDERICK SHULL, World War II veteran, career soldier, international lawyer, nationally recognized philatelist, and loving husband and father, died March 3, 2010, in Stamford, CT, of natural causes. Shull was born in North Platte, Nebraska, February 18, 1915, to Naomi Caroline Shull, and Harry White Shull, a pharmacist in the small town of Broadwater, Nebraska. He graduated from Broadwater High School, at 16, in the Depression-era Midwest. He completed Chadron State Teachers College in 1936, and, with the absence of jobs in his home state, traveled to Washington, DC, where he worked on Capital Hill as a staffer while completing a law degree at George Washington University. He returned to Scottsbluff, NE, in 1941 to begin a private law practice, but this was interrupted by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As an ROTC "Ninety Day Wonder" he was sent to San Francisco to begin active duty. There he met Helen Counter, of Brighton, Colorado. The couple were married within six weeks, in June 1942. Shull was sent to the Pacific Theater in August, where he spent 42 months. He saw live action early in the war as a counter-intelligence officer and subsequently served on General Douglas MacArthur's staff in the combat headquarters. He was awarded the Legion of Merit and other campaign decorations and left the Army in 1945 as a Lieutenant Colonel at the age of 30. Shull was recalled to active duty in 1946, at the beginning of the Cold War. He was assigned to the Army Intelligence Staff at the Pentagon, but soon transferred to the Judge Advocate General's Corps, where he served with distinction until 1970. Notable assignments included staff judge advocate and legal positions in Ft Ord, California, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Washington, D.C.. He also served with the JAGC in Colorado Springs, CO, Verona, Italy; and Paris, France. At the end of his career, Shull was Commandant of the JAGC School, Charlottesville, VA, from 1966-67, and then became the Judge Advocate, US Army Europe from 1967-1969. He attained the rank of Brigadier General, and retired in 1970 with 30 years of service. After briefly practicing law in the early '70s in Washington, Lewis Shull retired to his lifetime passion of philately, in Crofton, MD. He and Helen ran a family business, buying and selling rare postage stamps, from 1970 to 2001. They specialized in US, Japanese, and Ryukyu Island stamps. He and Helen were active "stamp bourse" participants, travelling all over the United States, to attend major stamp shows. Shull was elected President of the American Stamp Dealers' Association (ASDA), serving from 1980-83. In that role, he developed and refined a code of business ethics for US stamp dealers that is a valued standard today in the profession. As a result of this work and his leadership, he was selected "ASDA Man of the Year" in 1992. Lewis and Helen relocated from Crofton to Chevy Chase, MD, in 1992 where they lived until Helen's death in 2002. Lewis then moved to Connecticut, where he resided until his death, March 3, 2010. Shull is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Caroline and John O'Neill, of South Easton, MA; son and daughter-in-law John and Ellen Shull, of Edgewater, MD; and son and daughter-in-law, Thomas Shull and Dorothy Carroll, of Riverside, CT. There are eight grandchildren: Alison O'Neill Genovese, Lucas Lewis O'Neill, Amy Shull Foret, Mary Shull Melluzzo, Thomas Corley Shull, Jeffrey Frederick Shull, Joshua Carroll Shull and Emily Susan Shull. There are also five great-grandchildren. Lewis Shull's final intention was to be remembered as a fair man who loved his family. Funeral services, with full military honors, will be held on August 6, 2010, at the Post Chapel, Arlington National Cemetery, at 11 am.