Dr. Norman Joseph Shamus

Dr. Norman J. Shamus, 86, of Grosse Ile died Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, at Select Specialty Hospital in Wyandotte after a brief illness.

Born Jan. 15, 1938, to Joseph and Frances (née Lewandowski) Shamus, he grew up on Indiana Street on Detroit’s west side. An only child, he attended St. Luke’s Grade School and graduated from Holy Redeemer High School in Detroit.

It was in that west-side neighborhood that he met the love of his life, Muriel Murer, who was two years younger and lived two blocks away on Kentucky Street.

He went on to study at the Virginia Military Institute but returned home to Detroit after graduation to marry Muriel in September 1959. Together, they moved to Chicago so he could pursue his medical degree. He graduated in 1963 from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Shamus’s medical residency in radiology was at Riverside Osteopathic Hospital in Trenton. Initially, the Shamuses rented a house on Grosse Ile to be near the hospital, but quickly fell in love with the island community and chose to remain there for the rest of their years.

He worked in private practice for a short time for Dr. William Vernier in Wyandotte before taking a position as a radiologist at Oakland General Hospital in Madison Heights. He retired from Oakland General in 1993, after which his work days were spent at the Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club, trying to perfect his swing.

Dr. Shamus is survived by his wife of 65 years and three sons, Michael (Susan), Christopher (Cherri), and Gregory (Kristen), along with eight grandchildren: Collin (Nicole), Reid (Courtney), Ethan, Julia, Sarah, Samuel, Elijah and Noah Shamus, and a great granddaughter, Luna Shamus.

His life was filled with adventure.

Together, Dr. Shamus and his wife traveled the world with the Nomads and the Country Walkers. He dabbled in sailing and tennis and took many long-distance cycling trips with his sons. He loved playing golf in the Grosse Ile Invitational and adored Detroit Tigers baseball. In his teen years, he had a job wiping seats at the old Tiger Stadium on Michigan and Trumbull.

Dr. Shamus had boundless curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. He was a voracious reader; always adding to the stack of books by his chair – works of fiction and nonfiction alike. He loved to talk about current events, chatting on Monday afternoons with a group of other retired physicians and friends who called themselves the Sibley Group at restaurants all over the Downriver area.