Jerry Sheehan
July 24, 1922 – February 9, 2014
HOPEDALE - Jerry J. Sheehan, 91, of Hopedale, formerly of Pekin, Aurora and Peoria, died at 11:05 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014, at Hopedale Medical Complex. Born July 24, 1922, in Peoria to C. Jerry and Anna (McKiernan) Sheehan, he married Mary Ellen Murrin on Sept. 3, 1942.
He is survived by two sons, Jerry (Katherine) and Thomas, both of Pekin; one daughter, Barbara (Walter) Mellens of Chicago; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ellen; and sons, Michael and Patrick.
Sheehan began work at Caterpillar Tractor Company in 1941, and in 1942, joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. He was commissioned a second lieutenant navigator and flew 35 combat missions over Europe with the 95th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He was awarded the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Presidential Unit Citation with three Oak Leaf Clusters. His group was involved in the first B-17 raid on Berlin and the invasion of Europe on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Upon discharge as a first lieutenant, he returned to Caterpillar's East Peoria plant, where he was promoted from the factory to the personnel department. He held positions as personnel manager, assistant employee relations manager, and ultimately as employee relations manager of the East Peoria plant. In 1956, Sheehan was appointed employee relations manager of the yet-to-be-built Aurora, Ill., plant, with responsibility for both labor and employee relations. He worked there for eight years until returning to Peoria in 1964, where he was promoted to manager of personnel general offices with global responsibility for all personnel-related matters until his retirement in 1980, after 40 years of service.
Sheehan was active in community service in both Peoria and Aurora, where he served on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce, United Fund, St. Joseph's Hospital and as commissioner of the Aurora Human Relations Commission. He was co-chairman of the Illinois Manufacturers Association Workers Compensation Committee, which negotiated the so-called "Agreed Bill," for adoption by the Illinois State Legislature. In 1978, Jerry was the featured speaker at the National Association of Manufacturers annual meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., and at Tan Tara Resort in Missouri.
He belonged to Wee-Ma-T uk Hills, Jekyll Island Golf Club, Sea Island Golf Club, St. Simons Island Golf Club, as well as the Brunswick, Ga., Country Club, Sunset Hills Country Club and the Pekin Country Club. He qualified for and played in the USGA Senior Amateur Championship in Seattle, Wash., in 1981. He was an avid hunter, fisherman, golfer and Pointing Dog Field Trailer. He trained and handled his own Pointing Dogs in local, state and national field trials, winning the Peoria Journal Star Howard Kenny Trophy in 1970. During the 1975-76 season, his male pointer, Palladin's Judiciable Jake, was awarded the Field Trial Clubs of Illinois' coveted Dog of the Year award. His female pointer, Smarts Stony Broke, won the Runner-Up Award the same season.
A memorial Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, at St. Mark Catholic Church. Msgr. Brian Brownsey will officiate. Visitation will be one hour prior to the Mass at the church. Cremation rites have been accorded. Burial of ashes will be in St. Mary's Cemetery in West Peoria. Wright & Salmon Mortuary is handling the arrangements. Memorials may be made to any Catholic church or St. Bede Abbey in Peru, Ill.
Tributes and condolences may be submitted to www.wrightandsalmon.com.
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