Schofield, Murrille, 1910-1996

Murrille Edwin Schofield was born on June 30, 1910 in Forest Hill, Nova Scotia (the edge of Gaspereau Mountain) to Thornton Schofield of White Rock, Nova Scotia, and Mamie Schofield of Forest Hill. His father was killed in 1918 when serving as a corporal machine gunner for the Canadian Armed Forces in WW1 leaving Murrille and his sister, Edna to be raised by their mother.

Schofield completed his early education up until the tenth grade at Gaspereau School, and then studied at Horton Academy under Ernest Robinson. He received a Bachelor's degree in theology from Acadia University in 1933, but refused to be ordained.

Murrille Schofield enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940 as a rear gunner but was discharged for a poor sense of balance. He joined the Elgin Regiment of Ontario Tank Regiment in 1942, served in Italy for three years, and was discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1945. He was employed by the Nova Scotia Light and Power Company (NSLP) in 1954 to work in construction gangs on boilers, turbines, and pumps. He was later recruited to be a corporate writer and became an associate editor for the in-house publication of the NSLP, first known as “Utilect” and then as “Powergram” beginning in 1972. He retired from the Nova Scotia Power Commission (formerly NSLP) in 1975.

Throughout his lifetime, Schofield submitted numerous letters to the editors of Nova Scotia newspapers including the Kentville Advertiser, the Chronicle Herald, and the Acadia University student publication, the Athenaeum. He also coached local tug-of-war teams for fifteen years, was the president of the Gaspereau Cemetery Company for a time, and was as a member of the Dr. C.B. Lumsden branch 74 Royal Canadian Legion in Wolfville, N.S.

Murrille Edwin Schofield died on April 27, 1996 in the Valley Regional Hospital, Kentville, NS.