Connie Cone Sexton - The Arizona Republic May. 13, 2003 12:00 AM
There was not hing like the thrill and suspense of election nights for former Arizona
Secretary of State James Shumway.
It wasn't just about which candidate might win, but about how the voting machines
would handle the rush of cast votes.
Shumway delighted in knowing the ins and outs of the machines, from the early days
of those with levers to the punch card computer age.
He was like a little kid as the votes would come in, his wife Lurline said. The memory
of his excitement is something she is holding on to as she and her family mourn his
loss. Shumway died Sunday after a five-year battle with colon cancer. The Scottsdale
resident was 63.
Shumway was born in Tempe and became a star football player at Tempe High School.
He went on to attend Brigham Young University where he met Lurline and discovered
that she had grown up in the Valley. "We lived just seven miles apart all our (young) life,"
she said.
The two married in August 1958. With a major in business administration, Shumway
landed a job in 1960 with Maricopa County as a voting machine mechanic.
"He loved elections and put his heart into it and studied the manual," Lurline said.
When he wasn't tapped to become the county election director he went to Pima
County in 1976. "He was frustrated because he wanted to be director" in Maricopa
County, Lurline said.
After he worked in Tucson for four years, Secretary of State Rose Mofford
created the job of state elections officer. Lurline said Mofford invited Shumway
up to try for it. He got the job.
When Gov. Evan Mecham was impeached, Mofford became governor and Shumway
took her job in 1988.
In 1990, Shumway ran to keep the secretary of state post but lost in the Democratic
primary to Richard Mahoney, who went on to win.
"It was the best thing that ever happened to our lives," Lurline said. Shumway later
became Maricopa County's election director, right where he had wanted to be all
along, she said.
Shumway retired in 1994 at age 55.
He was hoping to have years to travel. "He wanted to go to the Panama Canal but he
didn't make it," Lurline said, her voice breaking.
"He was just a sweet and loving man," she said. "His attitude was 'Whatever pleases
you tickles me pink.' "
Visitation will be at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
Coronado Ward, 2202 N. 74th St. in Scottsdale. The service will follow at 9:30.
Survivors include his wife Lurline; daughters Lori Jill Shumway, Beth Anne Winter and
Caryn Leigh Neff; son Russell James Shumway; brother Nolan Shumway; sister Helen
Evans; and 10 grandchildren.
SOURCE: Arizona Republic, The (Phoenix, AZ) - May 13, 2003
Steve Shumway - shumways@@petershumway.org
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