Shay, John

Description

John “Jack Kenneth Shay”

John “Jack Kenneth Shay” was born on June 4, 1925, in Port Chester, New York, to Rose Thompson, age 25, and James Joseph Shay, age 26. He had one brother James and in Rye his family lived at 46 Oakland Gardens. Jack was a Rye High School Graduate, Class of 1944.

He enlisted and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Jack served in the Army Air Corps for three years, spending time in China and India and flying missions over the China-India-Burma “Hump”.

The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in China.

Let there be no question about it! Flying the Hump was risky business. The air route led first over the Himalayan foothills and finally to the mountains, between north Burma and west China, airspace where turbulence and abominable weather was the norm.

On June 29, 1948, Jack married Anita A. DiFlorio, and they would have three children during their marriage.

He retired after working 39 years for Travelers Insurance Co. Jack volunteered at the National Gallery of Art in the educational division in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was as enthusiastic about Renaissance painters as he was about the Washington Redskins.

In retirement he enjoyed spending time cruising in his convertible, swimming at the county swim center on Riva Road and visiting bookstores and other retail establishments. He loved people, the lifestyle and especially the waitresses of South County, his family said.

John ”Jack” Kenneth Shay, 81, of Shady Side and previously of Falls Church, Va., died of natural causes April 19 in Venice, Fla.

At the time of his death, he was survived by two sons, Michael J. Shay of Churchton and Timothy Shay of Shady Side; one daughter, Barbara Shay Pignotti of Venice, Fla.; one brother, James Shay of Richardson, Texas; and three grandchildren.