Shea Homes’ Peter Shea Passes Away, Age 88

Peter Owens Shea passed away at his Newport beach home on Oct. 23 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 88. A memorial service is scheduled for Nov. 11 at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Newport Beach.

The J.F. Shea Co., Inc., renowned for its work on the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam and Interstate Highway System, has been a leader in the heavy construction industry in the United States for over a century. A relentlessly hard worker, Shea grew up around the family business’s construction sites. In 1961, he joined his cousin John Shea and brother Edmund Jr. as co-owner of the newly dissolved and reincorporated J.F. Shea Co., serving as the company’s VP. He later served as president of its heavy construction subsidiary, J.F. Shea Construction.

Peter Shea led every Shea heavy construction project since 1960, and he left his mark on the industry through the innovations and improvements that the company achieved under his leadership. Alongside John and Edmund, Peter helped expand the Shea organization to include not only heavy construction but one of the nation’s largest privately held home building and real estate development companies, Shea Homes and Shea Properties.

Shea served on various construction industry and community organizations including as director of AGC of California, director of the Beavers, trustee for the University of California Berkeley Foundation, and member of the University of California Berkeley Business School Advisory Board. He also served on the board of directors of the University of California, Irvine Business School. He is the recipient of the prestigious Beavers Award and the Moles Award for Management. Peter was committed to his Catholic faith and valued supporting their parochial schools, particularly Jesuit schools, and friends who found themselves in hard circumstances.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn H. Shea; children, Catherine N . (née Shea) Johnson, Peter O. Shea, Jr., Sarah H. Shea, son-in-law, Charles M. Johnson Jr., daughter-in-law, Deborah D. (née Walbert) Shea; grandchildren, Trey Johnson, Natalie (née Johnson) Baber, Luke Shea, Dylan Johnson, Carson Shea, Andy Johnson, Peter Shea III, and Lily Shea; great-grandchildren, Charles Johnson IV and Austin Johnson; siblings, Henry Shea (wife Joan) and Mary Elizabeth Callaghan (husband John); 22 nieces and nephews; and in-laws, Roy and Laurie Jacobes.

In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Peter Shea may be made to: Loyola High School of Los Angeles and Walk to Defeat ALS Charlotte: Mr. Edmund H. Shea III – The ALS Association North Carolina.