Obituary of Brian P. Shea

Brian Patrick Shea, 68, passed away on October 31, 2023 in Gainesville, Florida. He was born in New York on April 29, 1955, son of Frederick and Evelyn Shea. Brian grew up in Massapequa and Garden City, New York, where he attended high school at Chaminade. A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, he received his M.A. from Oxford University in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. In 1981 he joined the founders of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, New Hampshire, where he taught in the Cowan Program of Liberal Arts and was head of philosophy for over 25 years. In announcing Brian’s death, the founding dean of Thomas More College said, “It is with heartfelt grief I share the news of the passing of Professor Brian Shea on October 31. I do know that for our academic community the world will never be the same. It would not be what it is without the privilege of his students’ and colleagues’ long-abiding experience of the incalculable effects of his presence: his decades of teaching, his heroic perspective and his generosity, his singular wit, these and so many other qualities irreplaceable. He once referred to himself as an ‘ordinary eccentric’.” He is mourned by students and colleagues alike and friends from childhood and from college days at Holy Cross and Oxford. He was predeceased by his parents Frederick and Evelyn and his brother Kevin and sister Kathleen. He is survived by his many nieces and nephews. Family and friends are deeply indebted to Angela Pate for her steadfast care and concern for Brian in the long illness that preceded his death. The funeral Mass will be celebrated on January 20, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 130 5th Street, Garden City, New York 11530.