Born in South Bend on March 8, 1898, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Schurz, Franklin Schurz Sr. lived in South Bend most of his life. After graduating from South Bend High School in 1916, Schurz earned a bachelor's degree and a master's of business administration degree from Harvard University, with a break for service in the U.S. Army during World War I. A popular legend has it that Franklin Schurz Sr., the publisher and a nephew of Alfred Miller, took polka lessons, then sponsored weekly polka nights on South Bend's Polish west side. The social events were a huge hit and helped establish inroads for the newspaper in the immigrant community. Such community outreach and the newspaper's aggressive reporting helped push the "Tribune" past the other remaining daily newspaper in town, the South Bend News-Times. The News-Times published its last edition on December 27, 1938.