We regret to advise of the death of Lieutenant Colonel R.W. Shurb, CD (Ret’d) on 19 November 2015 at the age of 79, after a courageous battle. Ron served a full career with the Canadian Military Engineers.
Ron enrolled in the Army in 1955 under the Regular Officer Training Plan and started his military training at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean. He joined the Class of 1960 at Royal Military College in Kingston and completed his Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Civil Engineering Engineering in 1961 at the University of Toronto.
Upon completion of his Young Officer training in 1962, Ron was posted to 3 Field Squadron, Chilliwack for a short tour as Troop Commander before being posted to 2 Field Squadron, Gagetown (1962-64). He was then posted to the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering in Chilliwack but was soon deployed to Canadian Base Unit, United Nations Emergency Force, Egypt as Second in Command of the Engineering Company (1965-56).
Upon return to Canada, Ron became Production Officer in the Construction Engineering Section of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Winnipeg (1966-67). This was another short tour as he was soon posted to Headquarters, CFB Soest, Germany as Engineering Officer with the Construction Engineering Section, This duty was followed by a re-assignment to the Senior Staff Officer Construction Engineering Division of 1 Air Division HQ, Lahr.
Returning to Canada in 1970, Ron was appointed Base Construction Engineering Officer of CFB Bagotville but a year later found him as a student at the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, Kingston. From here Ron was assigned to HQ 1 Combat Group, Calgary in 1972 as Staff Officer 2 Operations/Administration.
Ron then became the Canadian Forces Liaison Officer with the United States Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (1974 -77). Returning to Canada, He was posted to Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering - first with the Mobile Command Headquarters Detachment, Chilliwack (as Staff Officer Field Engineering) and the next year as Officer Commanding Military Engineering Training Squadron.
For his last posting with the Canadian Forces, Ron was posted to National Defence Headquarters in 1980 as Section Head, Directorate Military Engineering Operations in the Director General Military Engineering Operations. Ron retired in 1982 but continued his public service in his second career. He worked on projects like the Urea Formaldehyde Foam Installation Mitigation (UFFI) Project, modernization of the Communications Security Establishment building, and the Y2K project. He also served a term as President, of the Military Engineer Association of Canada.
A celebration of Ronald's life will be held at Annunciation of the Lord on Friday 27 November at 11:00 a.m., 2414 Ogilvie Rd. followed by a gathering of family and friends in the Parish hall. A full military honour burial will follow at the Military Cemetery of Beechwood Cemetery (280 Beechwood Avenue) at 2:00 p.m.
The family requests no flowers. Sympathy donations can be made to the heart and kidney foundations. {khNov2015}
