William Brice Shuster

Born on January 26, 1923 in Dayton, Ohio to Rossal Brice (Ross) Shuster and Opal Fern Shuster, Bill Shuster died, as a result of complications following a surgery, on the morning of October 9, 2010 with his wife and eldest son by his side. Bill's family settled in Monrovia in the late 1920's. Bill attended grade school and then graduated from Monrovia High School in 1940. He worked from the time he was ten years old in various jobs, from delivering newspapers to assembly work at the Vultee Aircraft plant in Downey. Bill started dating his future wife of sixty-seven years, Marjorie Sharp, shortly before the outbreak of WWII. He enlisted in the Army and received basic training in Coleman, Texas. From December 1943 until December 1944 he was in the Army Air Force Central Flying Training Command stationed in San Marcos and Lubbock, Texas. As part of his officer's training he attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Bill was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in December 1944. He piloted single and multi-engine aircraft, mostly B-25's and trained pilots and navigators. He was honorably discharged from active duty at Davis Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona at the end of the war. On August 12, 1943 Bill and Marjorie were married in the Voorhees Chapel in San Dimas, California. After the war they moved to Belmont Shores in Long Beach from 1945 until 1951. They were both active in reviving the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. They enjoyed recreational and competitive sailing, boating and waterskiing. Bill was an accomplished water skier, taking part twice in the Long Beach to Avalon ski race (on a single ski) as well as trick and jump skiing at Marine Stadium. Immediately after the war Bill hired on with the old Richfield Oil Company. He progressed quickly from laboring in the Long Beach oil fields to taking on responsibilities of the human resources and personnel departments at their headquarters in Los Angeles. Bill was responsible for recruiting many of the company's top engineers, scientists, and executives. In 1966-67 he was involved with the merger of Richfield Oil and Atlantic Refining, resulting in the formation of ARCO. Bill worked as manager of ARCO's Personnel Department until his retirement in 1980. In 1951, as Bill and Marjorie were expecting their first son, William Michael, they acted as their own contractors and built a new family home in Arcadia, California. They lived there through the birth of their second son, William Patrick in 1955, and until the newly merged ARCO relocated its headquarters to Manhattan in 1968. The family moved to Wilton, Connecticut in 1968. When ARCO moved their headquarters back to Los Angeles in late 1972, the Shusters settled for the next 30 years in Bradbury, near family and friends, not far from by Bill's childhood home in Monrovia. He was very devoted to his family. He was often in projects to help his children, relatives, friends and neighbors. Both he and Marjorie had and continue to have many close and devoted friends. They moved to Rancho Mirage in 2003, close to where they had long owned a small vacation home. The Shusters were members of the Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church and they were also active with the Pilot Classes of WWII. Bill is survived by his wife, Marjorie Shuster; her sister, Patricia Belt; his sons, W. Michael Shuster and W. Patrick Shuster; Michael's wife, Cyndi Musselman and Patrick's wife Barbara Shuster, as well as Patrick's children, Sean Shuster and Saundra Palmer, along with Saundra's husband Craig and their daughters Isabella, Harley and Jocelyn.