Frank Ritter Shumway (27 March 1906 – 9 March 1992) was a major figure in

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

in the United States. From 1951 to 1965, he was president of the Ritter Company, a dental chair manufacturer founded by his grandfather Frank Ritter, and later led the company's successor, the Sybron Corporation. The Ritter line was later bought from Sybron by

Midmark Midmark Corporation is an American company that manufactures medical, dental, and veterinary products and provides related services. It is a privately held company, and was founded in 1915 as The Cummings Machine Company. Headquartered in Dayton ...

, and the line is still being sold today. In 1955, Shumway founded the Genesee Figure Skating Club after becoming active (and setting records) in the over-35 category of figure skating competition. Needing a place to train, he donated money to the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

to add an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

to its downtown Rochester campus. The ice rink was later named for Shumway. When RIT was forced to move in the mid-1960s, he ensured that the new

Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Hen ...

campus would also have an ice arena. The new rink, the

Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena The Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena, known colloquially as "The Ritter", is an arena on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology in Henrietta, New York, Henrietta, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester, New York (state), New Yor ...

, was named for Shumway's grandfather, a founder of one of RIT's forerunners, the Mechanics Institute. The Genesee Figure Skating Club also moved to the new arena when it was built in 1968. The Shumway arena was also home to the Rochester Ice Cats, a special needs hockey team. The Ice Cats had home games and practices at the arena. Now, they have their practices and home games at Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex. Shumway became president of the

United States Figure Skating Association U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act a ...

in 1961, shortly before the entire U.S. figure skating team, with coaches and family, died in the crash of

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Idlewild Airport in New York City to Brussels Airport in Belgium. On 15 February 1961, the Boeing 707-329 operating the flight crashed on approach to Brussels Airport, kill ...

(15 February 1961). Shumway was instrumental in uniting the figure skating community in its grief and providing an outlet for that grief, in the form of the USFSA Memorial Fund. Shumway said in September of that year: "We will take our Memorial Fund a giant skating stroke forward toward our goal of perpetuating the memory of our gallant 1961 World Team skaters, not so much by statuary and plaques, as by giving us the means to assist talented young skaters — many of them yet 'undiscovered' — to get started, to develop and advance, and eventually to represent our country in future years, and to be ranked at the top of the world in the art of figure skating." Shumway and his wife, Hettie (née Lakin), were generous donors to RIT. Hettie Shumway is the

namesake A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...

of one of RIT's dining halls. Shumway was inducted into the U.S. and

World Figure Skating Hall of Fame The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. It is located at the Broadmoor Resort in Co ...

s in 1986. He continued ice skating until just months before his death in 1992.

External links

Shumway family genealogical record

U.S. Figure Skating page on Shumway and the Memorial Fund

Rochester Ice Cats Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shumway, F. Ritter Sportspeople from Rochester, New York Figure skating officials 1906 births 1992 deaths