James Michael Shields

Earth life is a great school and Jim graduated with honors in his home with loved ones around him, including his dear wife, Karen Vivian (Warren) Shields, her daughter, Karlee, and his daughters Ashley (David) Fry and Keily Beth Hillary Shields.  The room was quiet, peaceful, and full of love.

Jim was the 2nd born son to Charles Judson Shields and Alice Zelda Jordan in the Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, CA while his father was attending Stanford University.    

Jim felt his childhood was idyllic. He and friends recall making boats and floating them down the gutters of Redwood City. The family moved to Canyon Road when he was 10. There were many young boys his age living on the same street! The boys would be together most summer days gathering scraps of building supplies from the “new builds” on the block to build their best hillside forts, skateboards, and homemade coasters. They threw “mud balls” at one another and slid down the dry grassy hills. “We all basically played together until someone got hurt,” said a friend, “and we loved every minute of it.”

The Shields family loved one another.  Our father often said, “Who wants to make a memory?”  We made many wonderful memories together as a family going to the beach, camping, and on vacations visiting national parks, our nation’s capital, and many relatives around the country.  Jim leaves behind his siblings David (Sherry) Shields, Marilyn (Brad) Haupt, and Karen (Mark) Nations.

Jim enjoyed sports as a young man and had great success as a high school wrestler–even earning a scholarship to Brigham Young University.  He definitely had a zest for life and enjoyed a surfboard he made with his Explorer BSA troop, his Kawasaki motorcycle, and snow skiing in Utah. 

 Jim fell in love with the mountains of Utah and BYU. He followed the BYU sports teams all his life. Jim graduated from San Carlos High School in CA, majored in Psychology at BYU, and earned his master’s in Clinical Psychology at Cal State, LA. In Utah, he worked managing a group home for runaway boys for a time.  He soon changed his career from psychology to researching multiple levels of title ownership in oil and gas leases.  It became his life’s work as he loved the challenge of discovery and found a few real estate deals along the way.

Jim was a social fella, he enjoyed people and people enjoyed him.  One reason people were drawn to Jim was his welcoming/non-judgmental attitude. His greetings were always meaningful and genuine. He’d say to his guests, “I’m glad you are here.” and “May I get you a tasty beverage?”  

He enjoyed time with his wife, Karen, and her children, Katie (Jason) Parkey, Jason Arbon and Karlee Hancock, as well as her grandchildren, Luca, Mateo, Dante, Odessa, Mila, Lily, and Maddy. Luca and Mateo went fishing with Jim for a few hours and shouted, “This was the best vacation ever!” Jim’s daughters both remember sweet times with their Dad playing hide and seek and listening to his many stories. His daughter, Keily, remembers when he’d look her in the eye and say, “I love you, girl,” and she always knew he meant it. Ashley’s sons, Joel, Ethyn, and Zack especially loved going to the mountains and boating with their grandpa.

Jim left this world a rich man, rich in love from his family.  He didn’t want to leave them and fought off death for 4 years with a cheerful and positive attitude with his purpose to share all the stories that mattered and seal his life with love. He and his wife, Karen participated in a Bible study group for 15 years.  Jim often said “How can I complain when God has been so good to me?”  Recently he remarked, “This cancer has made me realize that blessings have just been poured out all my life…I’m very grateful.”

“Life is Real! Life is Earnest! and the grave is not its goal; 

Dust thou art, to dust returnest, was not spoken of the soul.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This notice is dedicated to all who loved Jim.