Date of death: 9/29/2017

Saint Meinrad Class: SS 2003

Brother Patrick T. Shea, O.F.M., 69, died on September 29, 2017 at St. JohnÆs Hospital fortified with the sacraments of his faith and the prayerful support of his brothers and sisters in religious life and of his colleagues at the Diocese of Springfield Pastoral Center. Born June 29, 1948 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, the son of Francis Michael and Martha (Early) Shea, he lived with his family in Shell Lake, Wisconsin and Ashland, Wisconsin. He joined the Order of Friars Minor, the Province of the Sacred Heart in 1978 and made his solemn vows on October 4, 1983. Bro. Pat was a graduate of Northland College (1970) and earned his law degree at the University of Wisconsin, being admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin and later to the State Bars in Ohio and Illinois. He earned a doctoral degree in Canon Law from Catholic University of America (1993) and had served in the Springfield Diocese from 1993 to 2002, before moving to Cleveland and serving as General Counsel for that Diocese. He returned to the Springfield Diocese in 2015 where he had been serving as Vice Chancellor, Liaison for Religious, Defender of the Bond and Promotor of Justice since. Bro. Pat is survived by two older brothers, Jeremy and James and their families.