Posted on 01/27/2009 7:29:00 AM PST by library user
BAY CITY, Mich. -- Officials in central Michigan say a 93-year-old man who owed more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills froze to death inside his home -- where the municipal power company had restricted his use of electricity.
Neighbors and friends of Marvin Schur want answers as to how this could happen.
“Now that we do know it was hypothermia, there’s a whole bunch of feelings that I’ve got going through me,” said Jim Herndon, a neighbor of Schur’s. “There’s anger, for the city and the electrical company.”
Bay City officials said changes are on the way in an attempt to not let another instance like this happen again.
An autopsy determined Schur, 93, died from hypothermia in the home he lived in for years.
Bay City Electric Light and Power sent Schur a shutoff notice through the mail a few weeks ago.
Then crews placed a shutoff notice on his front door. A few days later, Schur was found by neighbors.
Bay City Electric Light and Power, which is owned by the city, said a limiter was placed on Schur’s electrical line.
The device limits the power that reaches a home, and it blows out like a fuse if power consumption rises past a set level.
The manager of Bay City said the limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of the man's body.
The city manager said city workers keep the limiter on a house for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn't paid utility bills or arranged to do so.
A medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Schur told TV5 and WNEM.com that Schur died a painful death due to the hypothermia.
Dr. Kanu Varani has done hundreds of autopsies, and he said he’d never seen a person die of hypothermia indoors.
A neighbor who lives across the street from Schur is angered that the city didn’t personally notify the elderly man about his utility situation.
Schur’s neighbor, Herndon, said Schur had a utility bill on his kitchen table with a large amount of money clipped to it, with the intention of paying that bill.
Right now the city said the situation is still under investigation. Marvin Schur was a World War II veteran.
A memorial service for him will take place Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. at the Gephart Funeral Home in Bay City.
You said — “And if you are 93 and do not remember then I guess tough luck????”
Then that means that God intended it for “my time to go” — as the time for *anyone* to go — is *totally* — in God’s hands and no one elses...
I’ll go whenever God says it’s my time...
Okay, get the utility company information, then...
Oh, I agree that one should NEVER depend solely on either the government or some public utility. I wouldn’t be without another option. When I was a kid, we burned coal exclusively; now we mostly use wood for heat. IF Obama is true to his stated intent to bankrupt the coal industry, people’s electric bills will skyrocket to the tipping point and may well cause riots in areas where people are accustomed to being taken care of by the government. On second thought, they’ll probably be getting electricity for “free” and those not on the dole may be the ones taxed to the rioting point. We’re hiding out in the country and trying to keep as able as we possibly can for our age.
I am not convinced that God is the one who pulls all plugs, else He would not have required a face to face with one who commits premeditated homicide... No I am not accusing the state of committing that act. But it is NOT quite how you describe, there are many whose time is taken and it is NOT an act of God.
You said — “And if you are 93 and do not remember then I guess tough luck????”
And as a followup to this..., if someone is unable to take care of himself, then the person needs to be institutionalized... That’s what they are there for...
The idea behind the breaker is to get the customer to pay the bill. Not a bad idea, but it all went wrong this time.
Notice it’s a government owned utility. Government is our friend and savior.
Careful now, remember we sometimes get to pronounce our own sentence... Peradventure somebody who does not like you decides you need to be institutionalized?
God had control over everything, whether He does it directly or allows it to happen. Nothing escapes His control or His knowledge or His attention. If someone else’s negligence or even purposeful murder happens, it’s always because God knows and allows it... There are no exceptions...
Death is not the big problem here, because “death” is a judgment of God, already handed out. It’s like the Bible tells us that it’s the *second death* that people need to be concerned about (not the first death) — because the second death is the lake of fire, eternal torment and separation from God...
Thank God for this hero.
There’s no middle ground here... either you take care of yourself, or someone else is going to...
Regardless, it's cheaper and more compassionate to have provided the victim power in winter than to have put him into a home.
If Polesukis has her way, the "e's" will be butchered....fertilized embryos and the elderly.
Well, you can’t tell government to stay out of our business and then get after them for not getting involved in our business...
Agreed. More fault of government sponsored programs that fail to do anything other than consume tax dollars and create ‘jobs’ for those that would otherwise be on welfare because of complete lack of compassion, marketable skills, laziness, and sense of dignity.
Poor old guy should have told someone he was a terrorist
Then the government would have given him 3 hots and a cot at least through the winter
I do not know who told you this. God allows stuff to happen, except when it perverts HIS plan. He, however, gave us brains also called gray matter to use and some of us forget that is a God given responsibility.
I would like to have a ring side seat when you get opportunity to tell your views to this 93 year old veteran.
“... there was simply no one to check on him ...”
For many people, there are options between family (who may be in a distant location) and government (which doesn’t really care). Our church has a visitation list of elderly members and nonmember “friends of the church” who live alone. Everyone on the list is contacted every day, either by phone or in person.
You said — “I would like to have a ring side seat when you get opportunity to tell your views to this 93 year old veteran.”
I don’t have to, God has already told him His views...
You said — “Our church has a visitation list of elderly members and nonmember “friends of the church” who live alone. Everyone on the list is contacted every day, either by phone or in person.”
Now, that’s a real and viable option and that is exactly where it should have been handled, in the first place, for this guy — and *not* the utility company (as others are trying to say...).
I’m sorry, but the primary blame goes on his family (if he has any) and 2ndly to his friends. No 93 year old should be living alone—and if they are, they need to be checked on daily.
That no one close to him knew he couldn’t pay his electric bill says volumes—and NOT about the electric company.
The local Patriot Guard should show up big time for this hero.If this happened here. I know we would be there in force.
This really sucks the big one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.