May 17, 1947 - Jan 18th, 2006

With his family at his side, Quincy philanthropist and entrepreneur Kennon S. "Ken" Shea peacefully passed from this life to his eternal home with the Lord, late Wednesday night January 18th, 2006 at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center located in Houston, Texas.

Born 58 years ago in Pasadena, California to Edward and Dorothy Shea on May 17, 1947, Ken was raised and educated in Southern California attending Webb School for ninth and tenth grades and graduating from Claremont High School. There he competed on the hockey and track teams. As a freshman he held the high school long jump record (19 feet 6 in).

In April of 1975 through a mutual business acquaintance and match maker Ken met the love of his life Victoria Skow and the two were later joined in matrimony on August 18th, 1979 in San Diego, California. To this union three children were born. The family relocated from San Diego, CA to Quincy in July of 1983.

Ken aspired to become a commercial pilot, but following his parents divorce when he was 23, he was required to step forward and and take over the management of four longterm care facilities, a profession in which he excelled. At the time of his death Ken had expanded the operation to ten care facilities, eight of which he managed and two that are leased out.

Ken never lost his zeal for aviation. He owns a private collection of numerous aircraft to include sailplanes, float planes, antique aircraft and his corporate aircraft all of which Ken was certificated to fly. Ken participated competitively as a glider pilot in Regional, U.S., and International soaring competitions. As a flight instructor he was proud of the fact that he was able to train both his sons, younger brothers along with numerous others to fly. His talents were instrumental in the saving of a flight instructor and student. While conducting spin recovery training, he climbed from the rear of the aircraft and assumed the controls as the flight instructor panicked and was unable to recover in a uncontrollable spin. Another time he helped lead a lost student pilot to safety. He served his fellow pilots as a representative with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and was actively involved in the oversight of Quincy's Gansner Field along with serving as a member of the board of Missionary Aviation Fellowship. He flew charity flights to Russia to provide hospital supplies to the needy,as well as being a member of the San Diego County Search and Rescue. Ken was invited to the White House in 1982 to discuss civil aeronautics issues and a possible appointment to the presidents commission.

Ken was an accomplished musician. He played a variety of instruments, especially mandolin, bass, guitar, piano and accordion. As a member of a bluegrass band he started playing jobs at the age of 16 and his band became one of the fastest bluegrass bands in Southern California. At the age of 19 he and the band drove in a cattle truck and toured Arkansas. They did not have room for both their instruments and themselves so when the weather was good the instruments rode in the back and when the weather was not the instruments rode in the cab while the band rode in the back. Two of the band members Dennis and Danny Agajanian went on to establish professional careers in music. Ken was honored to accompany Dennis Agajanian at some of Billy Graham's crusades. Ken once gave Mrs. Billy Graham a ride on the rear of his motorcycle.

Ken has devoted himself to the Lord and his fellowman. He has been instrumental in the Christian Missionary field, in the growth of the local Christian community through his affiliation with Meadow Valley Community Church and his founding of Plumas Christian School. There are untold numbers both locally and world wide who's life Ken has touched. He is remembered by his warm and friendly smile and the caring glow in his eyes. He was always there to help those in need. Ken has made personal trips to visit orphanages and minister to the street children in Valdivostok and has sponsored five Russian youth for U.S. studies. In November 2000 Ken was the guest speaker of the Anchorage, Alaska Mayor's Prayer Breakfast.

Ken is survived by his loving family to include his wife of twenty six years Victoria "Vickie" Shea, his children John Kennon Shea, Graham Thomas Shea and Anna Kathleen Shea; his parents, Edward Shea and Dorothy Shea; four siblings, KathleenShea, Roger Shea, Laurie Shea and Timothy Shea; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by brother Kirk Michael Shea.

Ken was currently serving his community as a member of the Plumas District Hospital Board of Directors, and was proud of it being named Hospital of the Year while he served on the board, the Plumas Crisis Pregnancy Center, the Plumas Christian School, and Watson Land Company. He helped establish Youth for Christ in Quincy and was on the board for Youth for Christ in San Diego for eleven years. 
A celebration of Ken's homegoing will take place 10:00AM Saturday January 28th, 2006 at the Feather River College Multi-Purpose building with interment to follow in the Meadow Valley District Cemetery. An opportunity to express you condolences to the family along with signing the memorial guest register is available online atwww.fehrmanmortuary.com. The family ask that any remembrances in Ken's memory be made to the Plumas Christian School c/o Fehrman Mortuary and Crematory P.O. Box 53, Quincy, CA 95971.
 

Kennon S. Shea, 58

Operated chain of elder-care centers
Author: Jack Williams; STAFF WRITER

For Kennon S. Shea, commuting from the Plumas County community of Quincy to his San Diego County care centers was as easy as climbing into the cockpit of his Piper Malibu.

Each flight was a business trip designed to check on his eight elder-care facilities. But everywhere he flew, the six-seat aircraft was his home away from home, a reminder of the days when he was a national champion soaring pilot and a flight instructor.

Mr. Shea, president and chief executive officer of the El Cajon-based Kennon S. Shea & Associates, died Jan. 18 at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He was 58.

He had been diagnosed with cancer in September 2004, said his son, John, who has succeeded him as president and CEO.

In San Diego County, Mr. Shea operated Lo-Har Gardens and Magnolia, Parkside, Somerset and Victoria special care centers in El Cajon; California Special Care in La Mesa; Cloisters of La Jolla; and Cloisters of Mission Hills.

An accomplished pilot who learned to fly from his father at 16, Mr. Shea envisioned a career in commercial aviation until his parents' divorce, which brought him into the family health care business.

"His mother was left two long-term care facilities," his son said. "He operated one in Palm Springs and hers was in Pasadena."

By the 1980s, Mr. Shea's business interests had shifted to San Diego County.

His Parkside Special Care Center, a long-term care facility dedicated to the care of Alzheimer's disease and dementia patients, was honored in the 1980s by the California Commission on Aging. Parkside is one of six of Shea's long-term care facilities. Two others are considered short-term or rehabilitation oriented, his son said.

Mr. Shea's roots in the health care business stretch two generations, when his grandmother began taking care of the elderly in her Southern California home. His father, Edward Shea, went on to open several long-term care facilities, mostly in the Los Angeles area.

Mr. Shea earned a commercial aviation license and taught flying at Brackett Field Airport La Verne and Cable Airport in Upland. In 1971, he earned a soaring pilot's license.

He became so consumed with flying that it took precedence over another youthful passion, bluegrass music. Able to play by ear, he became proficient on the string bass and mandolin as a teenager and also learned guitar, piano and accordion.

With a group of musician friends, including future professional Dennis Agajanian, he made his way at 19 in a cattle truck to Arkansas. They played mostly in pizza parlors.

"He ate pizza and played bluegrass all the way back to California," said his wife, Victoria.

In December 1979, Mr. Shea made local headlines for helping rescue a student pilot who was lost and flying with a perilously low fuel supply.

Mr. Shea heard the student's distress call while flying from Oxnard to San Diego. Guidedby San Diego air controllers, Mr. Shea found the student near Warner Springs, caught his attention and safely led him to an airport landing strip.

A decade later, Mr. Shea won a national soaring championship in Hutchinson, Kan., flying a German-made, two-seat glider with an 80-foot wingspan. The following year, he finished ninth in this class, based on aircraft size, in the world soaring championships in France.

Mr. Shea also competed in the Reno Air Races, flying a World War II trainer. He gave up competition when he began raising a family.

In recent years, he flew to orphanages and hospitals in Provideniya Bay, a town in the remote northeastern region of Russia, on cultural exchanges and to provide medical supplies.

"We ended up bringing back four Russian students in a cultural exchange," his wife said.

A subsequent trip was on a commercial airline, enabling Mr. Shea to bring donated supplies.

Mr. Shea was born May 17, 1947, in Pasadena. He played hockey and excelled in the long jump, leaping 19 feet 6 inches as a freshman at Claremont High School. He then attended Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga for two years.

"He always wanted to live in the mountains," his son said. "One day, flying with his brother, he landed in Quincy in the northern Sierra. He said, `This is where I want to have family.' "

Mr. Shea, living in San Diego at the time, bought a home in Quincy in 1983. He kept a home in La Mesa, which he offered to friends and business associates over the years.

"On visits to San Diego, he usually stayed in a motel," his wife said.

In San Diego, he served on the board of Youth for Christ and served on an aviation search and rescue team. In Quincy, he served on boards of directors of the Plumas Hospital District and Plumas Crisis Pregnancy Center and helped found Plumas Christian School and Youth for Christ.

He is survived by his wife, Victoria; daughter, Anna Shea, 18, a student at Pepperdine University; sons, Graham Shea, 22, also a student at Pepperdine, and John Kennon Shea of San Diego; parents, Edward and Dorothy Shea, both of Santa Barbara; sisters, Kathleen Shea of Lawrence, Kan., and Laurie Shea of Santa Barbara; and brothers Roger Shea of Alta, Wyo., and Tim Shea of Boston.

A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 2 at Skyline Church, 11330 Campo Road, La Mesa. A service also is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Feather River College Gymnasium in Quincy.