John Joseph Shannon

John Joseph Shannon passed away on the morning of April 7, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Joe” was born on February 24, 1935 in Jersey City, New Jersey. The youngest of three children born to Joseph Aloysius Shannon, a former professional baseball player, and Evelyn Marie Kennedy, a homemaker, Joe grew up in the Greenville section of Jersey City.

As a young boy, Joe would enjoy spending summers at the family farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Joe was a graduate of St. Aloysius High School, Class of 1953, where he excelled in baseball and track. During his senior year, Joe was named as an All-County outfielder, and won the state championship for the javelin throw in his first competition. Joe later received contract offers from the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers organizations but decided instead to enroll in St. Peter’s College in Jersey City. Joe was a member of the St. Peter’s College Class of 1958, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. As a young man, Joe played semi-professional baseball and was an avid hunter.

Joe would later enroll in law school at Seton Hall University, in Newark, New Jersey, where he attended classes at night for five years while working full-time. Joe earned his law degree in 1969.

Joe married Sheila Marie Shannon (formerly Wiseman), of Brooklyn, New York, on August 7, 1971. Joe and Sheila would have two sons, John Patrick, in 1973, and Joseph Edward, in 1976. Together they maintained a home in Staten Island, New York, and later in Branchburg, New Jersey.

Joe was a partner at the law firm of Purcell, Ries, Shannon, Mulcahy and O’Neill, located in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he worked until his retirement in 2002. Over the course of a thirty-two-year legal career, Joe was an AV rated trial lawyer who tried hundreds of jury trials.

In retirement, Joe and Sheila would relocate to Las Vegas and settled in Sun City Summerlin. Joe and Sheila particularly enjoyed traveling, spending time with family, and entertaining visiting relatives. Joe also enjoyed playing golf.

Joe was predeceased by both parents, his older sisters, Evelyn Kroeper and Marilyn Gorman, and his wife of forty-eight years, Sheila. He leaves behind two sons, John and Joseph, both of Las Vegas, daughters Jennifer and Jasmine, and five grandchildren, Danica, Benjamin, Sophia, Alexander and Emma.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association in Joe’s honor.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.palmcheyenne.com for the Shannon family.