Creighton University

Endowed Chair Honors Wife and Mother

Sniffles could be heard and eyes were dabbed with tissues in the auditorium that held The Sheila and James J. Shea Family Endowed Chair in Anesthesiology inaugural. The audience was touched by the words of James “Jim” Shea, MD’57, as he reflected upon the many blessings bestowed upon his family. The Shea family’s gift of the endowed chair to the School of Medicine was made in memory of wife and mother Sheila Tobin Shea, SJN’58, BSN’59, who passed away in 1998. After proclaiming his thanks to God, his parents, Creighton University, his patients and his children, Shea said in a quiet voice to the hushed gathering:

“… to Sheila Mary Tobin Shea … She was the queen of our home and queen of my heart. Because of her and with her and for her, I became a far better man than I would have been without her.”

Jim and Sheila came to Creighton from Leavenworth, Kan., and Mitchell, S.D., respectively. Jim arrived in 1950 and graduated from the School of Medicine seven years later. Sheila received her BSN in 1959. Sheila’s father, uncle and cousin had also graduated from Creighton’s medical school. The couple raised seven children and settled in California, where Jim had a private anesthesiology practice in Visalia until he retired a few years ago. The Sheas believed their most serious obligation as parents was to provide spiritually for their children, and they were passionate about the values of formal education and social morality.

“My parents never misunderstood the role the Jesuits or the Catholic religion played in their education,” said daughter Patricia Shea Longacre, BA‘82, BSN‘83, who followed her parents to Creighton. “They were so proud that their children attended Catholic colleges.

“After the death of my mother, my father has continued to find ways to show his love of her. This gift to Creighton honors God and our family. It is a gift to my mother as well as a gift to those who will benefit from it.”

The Sept. 14 inaugural also honored the lifelong work of the chair’s first holder, James L. Manion, MD’66, a member of the School of Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology since 1979.

Manion, vice chair and associate professor of anesthesiology, is a native of Creighton, Neb. His contributions to the University and the public have been many. He helped lead a four-year effort for passage of the 1989 Nebraska motorcycle helmet law and was involved in the passage of Omaha’s seat belt law for children in 1991. He served on the Make-AWish Foundation of Nebraska for 13 years. He has received numerous awards, and countless medical students and residents rate him highly for his knowledge and ability to convey difficult concepts and techniques.

The Shea Endowed Chair in Anesthesiology is the eighth endowed chair in the School of Medicine and the 27th endowed chair at Creighton University. The Shea Chair provides flexibility to use funds to foster the anesthesiology department’s educational mission and to expand its perioperative care focus. Endowed chairs are hallmarks of a great university. The first endowed chair was named in 1502 at Oxford, England, while the first American endowed chair was in 1721 at Harvard College. Both chairs are still endowed today.

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