Ralph Coolidge Shrum

Ralph Coolidge Shrum, 85 of Woodstock, died January 5, 2010.
A funeral service will be held at the Dellinger Funeral Home, Woodstock on Friday, January 8, 2010, 11:00 AM by Rev. Anthony Keim. Burial will follow at St. Luke Cemetery.

Mr. Shrum was born November 5, 1924 at Maurertown, Virginia. He was the son of the late Hubert Franklin and Mattie Susan Miller Shrum. He retired from Bethlehem Steel in 1976 with 30 years of service. Ill health forced him to retire.

Prior to his military service, Mr. Shrum served with the CCC Boys, (Civilian Conservation Corps) at Camp Roosevelt. He began his military service in the United States Army on November 8, 1943, beginning with training at Fort Lee and Fort Eustis in Virginia. His training continued in Pennsylvania, before shipping to Norfolk, Virginia to North Africa. From North Africa, Mr. Shrum shipped to Naples, Italy where he was assigned to the 106th, "Golden Lion", AA Battalion. He saw action for four months at the invasion of Anzio, Italy. The 106th than moved through France and Germany and saw action along the Rhine River. After Germany, Mr. Shrum's unit was sent to Bastogne, Belgium to the Battle of the Bulge. At the end of the war, Mr. Shrum was assigned for occupational duty in Augsburg, Germany. Mr. Shrum was sent to Berchtesgaden, Germany, location of Hitler's mountain top retreat and during his time in Europe, witnessed crematoriums and concentration camp trains. Mr. Shrum carried enough points to come home in October of 1945. Traveling from Paris, France to New York and then New Jersey, he was discharged December 5, 1945. He met up with his cousin Austin Shrum at Fort Meade and together rode home on a Greyhound Bus back to Maurertown.

He was a member of the St. Luke Brethren Church and the American Legion Post # 199, and the Ben Franklin Men's Prayer Group.

He was preceded in death by four brothers, Alfred Lee Shrum, Irvin "Buck" Shrum, Edgar Franklin Shrum, and Joseph William Shrum, and a sister, Kathleen Shrum Shafer.

Mr. Shrum is survived by a son, Jeffrey Scott Shrum of Tennessee; two daughters, Johanna Marie Samson of Woodstock and Kimberly Clara Shrum of Lynchburg; a step daughter, Beverly Ann Shrum of Lynchburg; five grandchildren and three great grandchildren; four sisters, Margie Orndorff of Maurertown, Mary Frances Shaw of Woodstock, Inez Coffman of Florida, and Elizabeth Louise Diggs of Toms Brook; a special companion, Dorothy Ritenour of Woodstock; and his cat, "Muffin". Also surviving is Virginia Shrum with whom he made his home with her and her late husband, Austin, for 35 years.

The family will receive friends at the Dellinger Funeral Home, Woodstock on Thursday from 6 to 8 PM.

Pallbearers will be Bill Shrum, Jim Racey, Paul Racey, Melvin Waybright, Meredith Sine, and Alvin Cook.

The family request that memorial contributions be made to the St. Luke Brethren Church Building Fund, 3250 Back Road, Woodstock, Virginia 22664 or Charity of Choice.

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