Legislator Details
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
married Ruth Hitt on 8/2/1919;. children: 2, Richard [Bud] Shunk and MargaretShunk [both adopted]
Number of Children: 2
Background
Education:
University of Michigan, 1914, civil engineering
Biographical Sketch:
Upon graduation from U. of Michigan, he left for a tour of Europe just as WWI broke out. Consequently, he joined the French Foreign Legion for the duration of the war. He served in the trenches until an opportunity arose allowing him to join French air force squads as an observer. As such he spotted for pilots, noting enemy lines and photographing installations. At the end of the war, he took on the task of locating missing airmen, often repatriating remains to the States. His methodology was influential in procedures still used to locate and identify POW/MIA service personnel. He was owner, Wolverine Management Co.; Vice-president, A.K. Zinn and Co.; President, Transit Warehouse Co. He was a memberof the American Legion; Michigan Reserve Officers Association; Chamber of Commerce; Rotary Club; Calhoun County Tuberculosis Association; Battle Creek Historical Society; Michigan Feed Manufacturers Association; and Society for Crippled Children.
Boards/Councils: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Civil Defense for Battle Creek. His association with the Kellogg Foundation helped provide his cover while again locating fallen airmen under the OSS in WWII.
Notable Facts:
Military Service: French Foreign Legion 1914-1915, Escadrelle Lafayette 1916-1917, American Expeditionary Force 1917-1919, OSS 1943-1944.
He advocated for free government supply of polio vaccines during his failed Michigan Senate run.