Murphy orders flags lowered in honor of Bob Shinn

Flags in New Jersey will fly at half-staff on Thursday, May 18, to honor Bob Shinn, a former assemblyman who served in Gov. Christine Todd Whitman’s cabinet as Commissioner of Environmental Protection.

Shinn died on May 5.  He was 85.

“Throughout nearly half a century of public service, Commissioner Shinn demonstrated a commitment to New Jersey residents and the environment that transcended party lines in favor of the common good,” said Gov. Phil Murphy, who signed the executive order.   “As an esteemed assemblyman and Commissioner of Environmental Protection during the Whitman Administration, he tirelessly championed the preservation of safe, healthy environments, paving the way for our own efforts to promote environmental health and bolster resilience across the Garden State.  It is with great sadness that we mourn Commissioner Shinn’s passing and extend our sympathy to his family, friends, and colleagues.”

Shinn served as a Hainesport township committeeman and mayor, as a Burlington County freeholder, and as vice chairman of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission before his election to the State Assembly in 1985.  Whitman named him to her cabinet after her 1993 election.