EM2c John Schurr

Born Feb. 7, 1919, John Schurr was the middle of 11 children of Martin Schurr and Barbara Lovenstein Schurr, Russian immigrants who farmed in northwest Kansas.

The family lived near the tiny settlement of Park in southern Sheridan County, 1920 population 5,484, then moved 25 miles west about 1934 to Gove County. John attended high school in nearby Oakley, population 1,138, in the next county to the west. 

He enlisted in the Navy on Feb. 23, 1939 in Garden City, Kansas and graduated from boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station north of Chicago.

His training included a 12-week electrical school and a six-week projection school that then allowed him to run the films shown on the U.S.S. Arizona.

Mr. Schurr was an electrician’s mate and petty officer second class on the Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least two of his five brothers, Nels and George, also served in the Navy during World War II. He was also survived by five sisters.

Sources: The Oakley (Kansas) Graphic; the Arizona Daily Star of Tucson; Census; Navy muster roll; grave markers. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.