Dennis Kevin Shea

April 24, 1951 – April 1, 2023

Dennis Kevin Shea, 71, a resident of Fair Oaks, California passed away on April 1, 2023. Dennis was born on April 24, 1951, in San Francisco. He was the third child and second son of Charles Harold Shea and Claudia Fernandes Shea.

Dennis was raised and educated in San Francisco, attending Aptos Junior High School and Balboa High School. In December 1969, Dennis joined the United States Navy, serving for nearly four years during the Vietnam War on the USS Midway aircraft carrier. During his military service, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal (2 stars), Vietnam Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal, and Good Conduct Award.

Following his discharge from the Navy, Dennis attended the College of San Mateo and then Golden Gate University in San Francisco, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in transportation. Upon his graduation, Dennis successfully passed the Interstate Commerce Commission Practitioners Examination, ranking 9th in the nation — an achievement of which he was forever proud. He became a member of the Bar of the ICC in June 1978.

For nearly the next 40 years, Dennis worked in a variety of logistics, import/export, and international trade compliance positions within the high-tech industry. Among the Silicon Valley companies he worked for were Unisys, Memorex, Sequel, Flextronics, Apple, Symantec, and Bloom Energy. He traveled extensively on business —gaining particular expertise in the Asian and Latin American markets.

For all his professional accomplishments, Dennis was at heart a dedicated family man. Nothing was more important to him than family. His happiest days were spent in the company of family members and close friends — often as the grill-master and, more recently, as the pizza maker, in his outdoor kitchen, accompanied by his beloved British Cream Golden Retriever, Molly. A former ocean diver, he also loved to spend time at the beach, especially along the San Mateo County Coast. In his younger days, Dennis surfed the waves along the Pacifica and Half Moon Bay shorelines.

Dennis possessed a wry, sometimes off-beat sense of humor. He was the forever jokester — always finding some way of lightening the mood and making people laugh.

Dennis is survived by his loving and devoted wife Jan Emerson-Shea of Fair Oaks; his two sons Ryan (Kristen and daughter Sofia) of Granite Bay, and Matthew (Sylvia and daughter Brianne) of Hayward; his brother Chuck (Susan) of Nevada City; his sister Claudia Burgess (Tonny) of Orange; numerous nieces and nephews; and his former wife Marsha Shea of San Mateo.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, April 17, 2023, at 11 am at Mount Vernon Memorial Park & Mortuary, 8201 Greenback Lane, Fair Oaks. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Dennis’s name may be sent to Shriners Hospitals for Children, Attn: Processing Center, PO Box 947765, Atlanta, GA 30394, or can be done online, at www.lovetotherescue.org/memorial-gifts/.