Bud Shuster obituary

Elmer Greinert “Bud” Shuster, an influential Republican and former Pennsylvania congressman has died at 91. Shuster was born on January 23, 1932 and died on April 19, 2023.

According to Rebekah Sungala, a close family friend, Shuster died peacefully at his farm Wednesday in Everett, Pennsylvania, surrounded by his family, including his son, Bill Shuster, who succeeded him in the southern Pennsylvania congressional seat.

Shuster was married to Patricia Rommel Shuster. They tied the knot on August 27, 1955, in Glassport, PA.

Patricia and Shuster remained married until 2016 when she passed away peacefully in her sleep at home after brief Hospice care.

They had five children: Peggy Statler (Paul), Congressman Bill Shuster, Debbie King (Greg), Bob Shuster (Kelly), and Gia Dixon (Grove).

Shuster’s political career began in 1972, when he entered the Republican primary for the 9th District.

He represented Pennsylvania’s 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1973 to 2001 after his shock resignation.

Shuster resigned from Congress on February 3, 2001, just a month after being sworn in for a 15th term.

While he cited health problems, he had also been forced to give up his chairmanship due to a Republican policy of a six-year term limit for committee chairs.

He was succeeded by his son Bill, elected in a special election that May.

Shuster received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954, where he became a member of Sigma Chi, an M.B.A. from Duquesne University in 1960, and a Ph.D. from American University in 1967.

Shuster’s official congressional biography states that he served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956.

However, in one of his several books, Believing in America, published in 1983, Shuster claimed that he was the class president at the University of Pittsburgh and was recruited by the local CIA office on campus and that this was his actual first employment.