Phyllis Grace Shea

Phyllis Grace Shea, 88, died at the Puget Sound Health Care Center in Olympia, WA, Sunday, April 13, 2014. She was born in the small village of Glen Miller, Ontario, March 14, 1926, the youngest and last survivor of 10 children of Albert Theodore Collar and Florence Marie Eveyline Wilson. She was born, baptized, and raised on the family farm. She met the love of her life in 1943 when she was clerking in a liquor store in nearby Trenton, Ontario, when her future husband was on leave from California, visiting his mother on vacation on Weller’s Bay near Trenton. She married T/Sgt Patrick E. Shea at the Methodist church in Glen Miller on September 15, 1945, only weeks after his discharge from the Army Air Force. They immediately moved to his home town of Buffalo, NY. When her husband re-enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950, they were stationed at Griffis AFB in Rome, NY (1950-54). After moving back to their home in Buffalo while her husband was in Iceland in 1955, they moved to Paine AFB in Everett, WA (1956-64) and Selfridge AFB, MI (1964-1965). Upon her husband’s retirement, they returned to Everett and the Pacific Northwest they both loved. When her husband died in 1983, she continued in the Silver Lake area outside Everett until 2006, and then moved to Olympia. She was a happy resident of Merrill Gardens until recently. She was a loving wife and supportive mother. She gave her children a real-life “Leave It To Beaver” childhood. She raised three sons of whom she was proud, Rick (Kathy), Mike (Connie) of Olympia, and Mark (Janet) of Mountlake Terrace. In addition to her children, she is survived by her grandchildren, Jennifer Kellogg of Appomattox, VA, Thomas of Seattle, WA, Benjamin, Paul, and Daniel of Olympia, Luke, Matthew, Sean, and Peter of Mountlake Terrace, WA. The family wishes to thank Emeritus at Olympia for all the care and kindnesses they extended to Phyllis over the past four years. Please leave memories of Phyllis or condolences for her family in the Guestbook below.