John F. Shea (Posthumously)
J.F. Shea Co. Inc.
John F. Shea was the Chief Executive Officer of J.F. Shea Co. Inc. from 1958 until 2005 when he assumed the role of company Chairman, a position he held until his death in late 2022.
Together with his cousins Edmund and Peter Shea, he reorganized the family construction business renowned for its work on the Golden Gate Bridge and on the Hoover Dam and built it into one of the largest privately held companies in the United States. The Walnut, CA-based conglomerate rose to prominence as a civil contractor and expanded into homebuilding and commercial property development and management in 1968.
J.F. Shea Construction continues to be a leader in the heavy construction and tunneling industries, building tunnel, highway, and water treatment infrastructure projects throughout the United States.
Shea Homes expanded nationally with its acquisition of the Mission Viejo Company in 1997 and later the launch of Trilogy by Shea Homes in 1999. The company has a reputation for quality and customer service. Shea Homes has been named Homebuilder of the Year and its Trilogy brand has been recognized as America’s Most Trusted Active Adult Resort builder in the United States for more than ten years. Shea Homes remains one of the largest private homebuilders in the United States building homes and communities in more than 10 states.
Shea Properties owns and operates approximately 10,000 apartment units and 6 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space in California, Colorado and Washington.
Throughout his storied career, John Shea met every success and every challenge with the same handful of core principles: work hard, bet big, always act ethically and honestly, and treat others with dignity and respect. Those same core principles continue to guide the Shea family of companies today.
Outside of the company, John Shea was a champion tennis player into his fifties, an avid golfer, a diehard USC football fan, and a passionate supporter of inner-city Catholic schools. He and his wife Dorothy have provided tens of thousands of scholarships for disadvantaged students and funded more than 1,000 school renovations on more than five hundred different campuses in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and across the United States.
