James Michael Shea

Jim’s parents were Joseph and Dorothy Shea. They adopted him when he was an infant. They didn’t have any other children, so Jim was an only child. His mother Dorothy died in 1981. His father was born in 1907, lived to be 90 years old, and died in 1997. Jim’s family lived in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County, a township located north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jim was a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan. His family had a small farm and they grew vegetables. Jim said they would take some of their produce into town to sell at the farmers marker. Jim said that his father liked to work in his garden after work to relax. His father worked at Sears during the depression, a job he was fortunate to have. His father sold appliances for Sears. His father also owned a grocery store for five years. Jim did all kinds of work to help his father in the store including stocking the shelves, sweeping the floors, bagging groceries and helping customers load groceries in their cars. This was in the days before shopping carts were common. Jim said that the only area his father would not let him work was in the meat butcher shop at the back of the store. Jim also said that his mother ran the grocery store much of the time. Later, his father worked in a factory that produced large industrial gears. His father worked in the office. Jim said that his mother was a good cook and that she made delicious pies. Jim attended Dorseyville Elementary School grades 1 to 8 Jim said he liked his school Jim attended Shaler High School. He played the saxophone in the marching band for 4 years He was also in the rifle club. Graduated in 1955

COLLEGE

Jim attended Pennsylvania State University in College Park, PA He enrolled in the College of Agriculture and graduated in 1959 with a BS degree in Dairy Science. He joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity Jim was a life-long fan of the Pennsylvania State University football team – the Nittany Lions.

UNITED STATES NAVY

Jim joined the United States Navy on July 26, 1960 He wanted to avoid the draft and he wanted to travel and see the world, so the Navy was the solution. He served for three years from July 26, 1960 to December 20, 1963. Jim attended officers’ candidate school, also known as the “Instant Ensign Factory,” in Newport, Rhode Island, and graduated as an Ensign on December 16, 1960. He was assigned to Beachmaster Unit One, an amphibious operations unit based at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, California. His unit trained along the Silver Strand, a long stretch of beach located between Coronado and Ensenada. He was stationed in Japan for 22 months. He enjoyed Japan. He liked the Japanese people and the food. Once, he climbed Mount Fuji. He said the hike began in the middle of the night so that they could watch the sunrise from the summit.

FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

Jim got a job with the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1964. His job was to inspect food processing plants. It was ideal for him because of his degree in food science. His job allowed him to work in the field instead of sitting behind a desk in an office. His first FDA job was in Buffalo, New York. Buffalo is a wonderful place if you enjoy twelve feet of snow in the winter, which Jim did not. So, he transferred to Pittsburgh, his hometown, and worked there for two years. Next, he transferred to Los Angeles. He worked in LA for five years. Jim moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1973, and he’s been here ever since. He inspected:

• Dairy processing facilities including the Carnation milk factory on the corner of Central Avenue and Indian School Road

• Food processing plants including the Arnold’s Pickles facility on Van Buren Avenue

• Feedlots around Maricopa County

He retired from the Food and Drug Administration in 1991 after 27 years of federal service. With his three years in the Navy, he completed 30 years of federal service.

AA

Jim began to attend Alcoholics Anonymous in 1981. He attended aftercare at St. Luke’s and his counselor Ms. Lea Dunlap “volunteered” Jim to drive St. Luke’s clients to the Pathfinder’s AA meeting on Monday nights. His sobriety date is April 29, 1981. Early in sobriety, Jim met Paul Larson, who ran Crossroads on Ocotillo Road. Paul Larson was a Navy man, so he and Jim had something in common. Paul Larson spent many hours talking with Jim and giving him guidance and direction for living a sober life. When Crossroads burned down in 1984, Mr. Larson, who had a degree in engineering, led the reconstruction of Crossroads. Jim has been a long-time member of the Monday night Pathfinder’s meeting He served as treasurer for many years. His friend Wally B. is also a long-time member of Pathfinders and together, they were the anchors for the meeting.

During his time in AA, Jim has been an example of sober living and service to others for hundreds of men and women. He chaired meetings, made coffee, set up chairs and set up literature tables. He collected the contributions, paid the rent to Faith Lutheran Church for the use of the meeting room and made contributions to the Salt River Intergroup. Jim is 88 years old. He has been sober for 44 years, half of his life.

ANIMALS

Jim volunteered for the spay and neuter hotline operated by the Animal Defense League of Arizona (ADLA). He took calls and distributed vouchers to low-income people to help them pay for the cost of veterinarian services to get their cats or dogs spayed or neutered. He became friends with Stephanie Nichols-Young, President of the ADLA and Board Secretary Karen Michael. He is also good friends with Sonia Hernandez, project manager for the Fix.Adopt.Save (FAS) campaign. Jim loved to visit with Sonia and to discuss cats, dogs, spay and neuter services and other topics. Jim was active in a campaign to gather petition signatures to place an initiative on the ballot to ban cockfighting in Arizona. He gathered 7,860 signatures, the second-largest number collected. To this day, Jim is very proud of his efforts. Jim loved cats and adopted a dozen cats over the past thirty years. His first cat, Buddy, lived with Jim for14 years. In recent years, Jim took care of three cats:

• Blackie, a male cat that would roam the apartment complex grounds and then come home when he was ready to eat

• Snowball (?), a timid female who stayed in the house

• Big Red, a large cat given to him by Niki Yarborough, a fellow cat lover, and a woman who is active in the Trap, Spay/Neuter, and Release efforts to help feral cats. The three cats, who were of advanced age, passed away in 2024 and Jim was lonely for a cat. His friend Cindy Gil found an older male cat named Carlos. Carlos, a handsome black and brown cat, came to live with Jim. Carlos loved to sit on Jim’s lap and get massaged while Jim watched TV. Jim said, “Carlos is the best cat I’ve ever had.”

When Jim got very sick in November, he was concerned about what would happen to Carlos. Jim’s friend and attorney, Robyn Interpreter, went to Jim’s apartment to feed Carlos. Carlos endeared himself to Robyn and she asked Jim if she could take Carlos home. Jim was relieved to know that Carlos ended up in a good home.

HOUSE, PET AND PLANT SITTING

Jim sat for people’s pets when they were away on vacation or work travel. Jim was dependable and conscientious in his work taking care of his clients’ pets, plants and homes. He had a network of clients, many whom he served for many years.

NEWSPAPERS

Jim could often be found sitting in Miracle Mile (when they had their dining room at 20th street and Camelback, and later, on 16th Street), reading the newspaper. Jim was always interested in what was going on in the world, especially politics. Jim was especially interested in animal welfare legislation in the Arizona State Legislature.

TRAVEL

Jim loved to travel. Jim loved Alaska. He traveled to Alaska four times. He liked to talk about Creamer’s field in Fairbanks, where he saw Sandhill Cranes that migrated in the fall to Wilcox, Arizona. He stayed in a lodge in Denali National Park at the end of the road, 90 miles from the entrance. On the long bus ride to the lodge, he saw bears, moose and other animals. He visited Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and stayed in the lodge at Kennicott. He loved National Parks and visited many of them including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and others. Wherever he went, he learned about the local history. Whenever I traveled to the same places, Jim would tell me historical facts about those places and I always learned something new from Jim.

My wife Joanna and I also like to travel. We enjoyed sending Jim postcards from our visits and he always let us know he received our postcards. I enjoyed taking photos of the landscapes, plants, flowers and animals. I would send two photos per day to Jim with narrative about what we saw. Jim would respond with an email that said he enjoyed the photos and he would say, “Keep sending photos.” When Jim came over to our house for dinner, we spent many hours talking about our latest travel adventure. He had been to almost all of the places we visited, so we shared common experiences. He enjoyed talking with us because we knew what he was talking about and it brought back pleasant memories of his travels. His next to last vacations was to the Florida Keys in 2021. He visited Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West. His last vacation was to the Great Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina in 2022.

FRIENDS

Jim had many good friends and three sets of families. He had friends who are active in the spay and neuter programs and in the animal rights advocacy groups. He had friends who were pet sitting, house sitting and plant watering clients. Many of his clients have been with him for many years. And he had a large network of friends in AA – a spiritual family – who learned from him how to live a sober life and how to help others. His philosophy of life was, “One day at a time” and “Get out of yourself and serve others.”

Jim loved many people and many animals and his two-legged and four-legged friends love him. Jim passed away at 3:14 pm on Thursday, November 13, 2025. His long-time friend Michael Hughes was with him, along with Michael’s wife Joanna Parris and his other long-time friend Wally Book.

CONTRIBUTIONS

In lieu of flowers, Jim requested that people honor his memory by making contributions to your favorite animal welfare organization. His family is grateful for the compassionate care that Hospice of the Valley provided to Jim in the last week of his life.

Michael D. Hughes, November 16, 2025