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, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

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 makes medical, dental, and veterinary products and provides related services. It was founded in 1915 as The Cummings Machine Company. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, USA, Midmark maintains production and administrative offices ...

, 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 Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

to add an

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

to its downtown

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

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 * Henrie ...

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 ice arena on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology in Henrietta, a suburb of Rochester, New York, United States. It is the former home to the RIT Tige ...

, 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 Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex is a non-profit indoor athletics facility in the Rochester, New York suburb of Brighton. Located on the campus of Monroe Community College, the arena was built in 1998. It is home to four regulation-size ice rinks ...

. 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 an ...

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 Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Bru ...

(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 Hettie Beaman Lakin Shumway (September 1, 1903 – June 17, 1985) was an American philanthropist and humanist during the early and mid-twentieth century. She committed much of her time to volunteering and worked to change and improve the Rochester, ...

is the

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

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 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, ...

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