Jane Shurry is the president of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame Museum Association. She and her late husband, Dave Shurry, established the museum in the town of Battleford in 1983. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

ALL FOR LOVE

At 91, Battleford woman digitally preserves Sask baseball history to honour late husband’s legacy

Jan 24, 2025 | 3:00 PM

A 91-year-old woman in Battleford has devoted decades to safeguarding the beloved baseball legacy she and her late husband, Dave Shury, built-in 1983.

Jane Shury has worked tirelessly at the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame Museum every day, making sure that their shared dreams and the spirit of the game live on for future generations.

This August will mark the 42nd induction of the museum.

“This is a big day,” she said. “We’re very proud of it for our little town, our little town with a big heart, Battleford,” Shury said.

Shurry looks at the baseball glove collection. She describes the really old ones as looking like “a pancake.” (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

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Preserving history

To celebrate this milestone, along with inducting new members who have significantly impacted baseball in the province, she will digitalize Dave’s book- Wheat Province Diamonds, to preserve the province’s legacy.

“So what we are doing now is digitizing this book, and we’ve got articles in there that are from those different eras of baseball, and that will all be part and parcel,” she explained.

The book, published in 1997, showcases years of stories from Saskatchewan baseball’s rich history Dave had gathered. She mentioned that they even hire professional audiobook narrators to bring the storytelling to life.

“Dave was the one that had this dream and this passion, and he’s brought it out. He brought it forward right to the town where baseball really started and has written the history.”

She believes it is a very long yet fully-worthy process.

“Battlefords was where the first game was played, the first recorded game, and we lived here, and that’s why this thing came about. But we also have to give credit to a lot of people from around the province because they did have an association, which we still have.”

For context, the first documented baseball match in Western Canada took place at Fort Battleford on May 31, 1879, when Battleford was the capital of the North-West Territories.

She also uses the book as a guide to digitally preserve different museum items.

“What we do is [to pick] a former story out of the first era, and then we have individual items that relate that came from that era way back in the early nineties so that it will have a bit of a story along with it.”

“And when that’s done, that will certainly be great,” she said.

The books written by Dave Shury. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

George the Mannequin

As the museum is housed with hundreds of treasures left behind by all the baseball icons, when asked which one stands out to her, she said, “George!”

“You see that mannequin with that uniform on? That was a mannequin that Ken Nelson gave us.”

Ken Nelson played a big role in the Beavers Baseball Club during the 1950s and 60s. Notably, he was a key team member when they clinched the championship in 1952.

George the Mannequin. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

“George. We call him that because that was Ken’s second name.”

She went on to share that its uniform was the one the North Battleford Beavers wore when they represented Canada at the Global World Series in Milwaukee in 1956.

The Global World Series was a semi-professional baseball tournament organized by NBC in Milwaukee and Detroit in the 1950s. It was discontinued due to low attendance and high costs.

With the Beaver winning the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League championship game in 2024, she is optimistic that this passion for the sport will be passed on to generations to come.

Meanwhile, as she looks forward to the 42nd induction, she will keep herself busy digitizing her late husband’s books, ensuring the province’s baseball legacy and her love for him live on in a different form forever.

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Kenneth.cheung@pattisonmedia.com