Former Mother Lode Congressman Passes Away
Norman Shumway, a Republican who represented the region starting in the late seventies, has died at the age of 88.
Shumway had recently been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. He was born in Arizona in 1934 and later moved to Stockton as a young child, where he spent many years of his professional life.
Regarding his introduction to public office, Shumway, an attorney, was tapped by Governor Ronald Reagan in 1974 to fill a vacancy on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors. Four years later, in 1978, he was elected to the US Congressional District 14 seat, which at the time covered all or parts of the counties of Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Mono, El Dorado and Alameda.
During redistricting in 1983, Tuolumne and Calaveras were moved out of House District 14, and Shumway continued to serve in the seat until his retirement in 1990.
Many of the bills authored throughout the course of his legislative career had to do with forestry and natural resource issues. He also served on the House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, and the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
After retirement, Shumway was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the state’s Public Utilities Commission, and later to the California Narcotic Addict Evaluation Authority. President George H. Bush also appointed Shumway to the Board of Directors for Legal Services Corporation.
Shumway would also serve on the board of directors for Goodwill Industries of America and Omniplex.
He was also a very active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In recent years he had been living with his wife, Luanna, in Bountiful, Utah, where funeral services will be held later this month. The couple had six children, 35 grandchildren, and 33 great-grandchildren.
