James Benedict Shea Jr.

James Benedict Shea, Jr. died peacefully at Rex Hospital on Saturday, February 5, 2011 after a valiant battle with a lengthy illness. He was born in Pittsburg, PA, one of five children by James Benedict Shea and Lillian Whitehouse Shea.

Jim attended Penn State University where he earned a Degree in Business and received a JD degree from William McKinley Law School in Canton, OH. He served in the United States Navy from 1941 -1945. After serving in the Navy he went to work for Timken Roller Bearing and earned a Degree in Industrial Engineering. In 1959, he his wife Jo Ann and his daughter Annie moved to Raleigh. At that time he was chosen by Governor Luther Hodges to begin the design and development of Research Triangle Park. The subsequent years he designed and developed Colorado Technology Park (Boulder, CO), Technology Park Atlanta (Atlanta, GA) and Figure Eight Island (Wilmington, NC), and Kingsmill on the James (Williamsburg, VA).

In 1968, he was the Assistant Secretary and Assistant General Counsel at Sharon Steel Corporation (Sharon, PA). In 1979, Jim was appointed a Federal Administrative Law Judge in Washington, D.C. After a number of years as a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh, he became a founding member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Raleigh.

Jim was preceded in death by his daughter, Annie McMillan Shea.

He is survived by his beloved wife and partner of 63 years, Jo Ann McMillan Shea; his son, James Benedict Shea III, his wife Jennifer Fisher Shea, and their son James Fisher Shea of Culver, IN; his grandson, Thomas Henry Campbell IV, of Asheville, NC; and grandson James McMillan Shea Campbell, and his wife, Patricia Scott Nicholson Campbell of Atlanta.

A memorial service will be conducted at 2:00pm on Saturday, February, 12, 2011 at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in the chapel of Saint David's School, 3400 White Oak Road, Raleigh. A visitation will be held following the ceremony at Holy Trinity in the dining hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 879-A Washington St. Raleigh, NC 27605, or Hospice of Wake County, 250 Hospice Cir. Raleigh, NC 27607.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Saint Mary’s St. Raleigh, NC. (919) 828-4311.