Donald "Mike" Shurig

West Lafayette - Donald "Mike" Shurig, Age 95, passed away on Saturday, March 23, 2019 at his University Place residence in West Lafayette, Indiana. He was born May 13th, 1923 to the late Arthur and Emma (Schafering) Shurig, in St Louis. His stepfather, Dr. L.H. Bock, entered into Mike's life while he was a young boy.

Mike married Jane A. Moye on August 18th, 1951. They had four children, including: Mike (Sue) Shurig of Worthington, Ohio; Mary Ann Shurig of Indianapolis; Jim Shurig of West Lafayette, and Tom (Kim) Shurig of Indianapolis. He had a half-sister, Ellen "Boots" Heitz, and her husband Fred (deceased), who lives in St. Louis. Preceding him in passing were: Jane Shurig (wife), Jim Shurig (son), Art Shurig and Jim Shurig (older brothers).

He had three grandchildren: Andy (fiancé, Ale) Shurig of Indianapolis, IN and Caroline Galloway (Andrew) of Dallas, Texas. Preceding him in death was Michael Murphy Shurig.

He had a unique combination of three "careers" including Army Air Force Tail Gunner, Geological Engineer, and Purdue University Professor.

He proudly served our country as a tail gunner in a B-24 bomber with the 15th AAF in Italy, flying 30 combat missions over Germany and Central Europe in WWII. Only four of the ten man bomber crew completed the thirty mission tour. Mike was one of the lucky four. His decorations included: The Europe, African, and Middle Eastern Medals with eight squadron bronze battle/campaign stars, one silver star, and three bronze stars, the Victory in Europe medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. He once parachuted to safety from a burning bomber, and also survived a crash landing.

After WWII, he earned a degree in the new field of geological engineering. His geology professor and consulting engineer for the Pennsylvania turnpike, offered him the job as the Head of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Field Geology Department at the young age of 24.

With a number of rock drilling crews, and drilling sites specified by bridge engineers, he drilled for sound foundation rock at hundreds of bridge and culverts over five hundred miles of Interstate 81 turnpike. He selected hundreds of sites to get geological data on dry mountain cuts, side hill cuts, potential landslide areas, coal mine cavities, sink hole areas, and one tunnel. His field logs of soil and rock cores went to engineering, bridge excavation, construction and bidding. He had the assistance of his former geology professor and the staff of the Pennsylvania U.S. Geological Survey along with several inspectors.

After nearly eight years with the turnpike, he received a MSE from the Purdue University School of Civil Engineering. In his last ten years of a total of 33 years with Purdue, he spent time in administration, doing scheduling, freshman counseling, Road School Coordination, Road School Proceeding Editor, and coordinator of the infamous CE Design Project Course.

He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity (Washington University - St. Louis), Research Honorary Chi Epsilon, and the Exchange Club of Lafayette.

As a combat veteran, geological engineer, college professor, and part of the first interstate highway system, Mike was truly a part of The Greatest Generation.

A celebration of life will be held at University Place, West Lafayette on April 4, 2019. Visitation will be from 5 pm until 7 pm. A short memorial service will be held at 7 pm, with refreshments served immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Michael Murphy Shurig Fund at the following address: Huntington Bank-Worthington, Special Olympics, 800 High St., Worthington, OH 43085. Share memories and condolences at www.simplicity-funeralcare.com.

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Published by Journal & Courier on Mar. 27, 2019.