Sheehan, James Joseph 1936-2021

SHEEHAN, GARD, MCGUIRK

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, volunteer (email)
Date: 7/16/2023 at 18:58:15

Sioux City Journal, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022

JAMES JOSEPH SHEEHAN died on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, where he had a second home.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sioux City, near his Dakota Dunes home, at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 28, with Father Terry Roder as Celebrant. The family will be present at the church begging at 9:30 a.m. for visiting prior to the Mass. Burial will be later at Calvary Cemetery, LeMars, Iowa, with his son, Reverend John Sheehan, officiating. Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel is in charge of the arrangements.

James, known to his friends as Jim, was born on Sept. 24, 1936, to Joseph Fahey Sheehan and Maurine (Gard) Sheehan. He graduated from Gehlen High School in LeMars where, as center on the basketball team, he had a devastatingly accurate hook shot. Jim graduated trom the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind. He spent his junior year abroad, at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. He also attended Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Mass., and the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Banking, Madison, Wis. He served in the U. S. Navy.

After graduation, Jim managed Sheehan Produce Company until 1967 and worked at the First National Bank, both in LeMars. He was President and Chairman of the Board of Farmers Savings Bank, Pierson, Iowa, from 1967-1997. Jim was active in many banking and civic organizations during this period.

His family was most important to him. James married Rosemary McGuirk in 1961 and they travelled extensively during their 57 years of marriage. They valued education, community, good conversation, and their Catholic faith.

He is survived by his son, Rev. John Patrick Sheehan of Monticello, N.Y.; daughter Julie Anne Sheehan and grandson Miles Manion Thorsen of East Quogue, N.Y.; son Robert Pierson Sheehan and his wife Sarah Sheehan of New York, N.Y.; brother Joseph (Patricia) Sheehan; sister Maureen Ann Sheehan; many beloved nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife, Rosemary; parents; and brother, Dennis (Maureen) Sheehan.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Sioux City Symphony or Gehlen High School would be appreciated.