Harry C. Sheehy Jr., 80
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Harry C. Sheehy Jr., 80, of 352 North Hoosac Road died Thursday, July 2, 2009, at home after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 31, 1929, son of Harry C. Sheehy Sr. and Sarah Storms Sheehy, his family moved to Garden City, N.Y., where he attended school, graduating in 1947 from St. Paul's School. He fell in love with the Berkshires during summers with his family in Great Barrington on what is now the Madden Memorial Farm property. He graduated in 1951 from Williams College, where he captained both the basketball and baseball teams in his senior year and earned All-New England honors in basketball.
Mr. Sheehy had a varied career, from Wall Street finance to small-business proprietor to being a a bodyguard to Reza Pahlavi while the former Crown Prince of Iran attended Williams. He first taught and coached at Berkshire School for a year before entering business in New York City. He began his financial career on the American stock exchange, becoming a partner with R.S. Dixon, Powell & Kistler in 1955.
Always a loyal and colorful fan of Williams College athletics, he returned to Williamstown in 1972 as the proprietor of Discoveries, a Spring Street record business. After permanently relocating to the Berkshires, he ran several other small businesses, and worked for three years in campus safety at Bard College at Simon's Rock. Before retiring for health reasons, he worked as an insurance appraiser, traveling anywhere within a day's drive and feeling, he always said, "free as a bird."
He enjoyed following his son Harry C. Sheehy III's basketball playing and coaching careers at Williams. Together they logged many miles on the scouting and recruiting trails. Through his older daughter and son-in-law, he also became a fan of Louisiana college sports. He played the piano by ear; a musical gift passed along to his younger daughter, and could often be heard in jazz clubs in New York and later at the Williams Alumni Center after football games.
Besides his wife of 34 years, Florence Sheehy, whose devoted care allowed him to remain at home these past few years, and his son and daughter-in-law, Constance Durrell Sheehy, of Williamstown, he leaves two daughters, Sarah Sheehy Steele and her husband, Robert, of New Orleans and Lorraine Sheehy Love and her husband, Ronald, of Monterey; his brother, Jack Sheehy of New York City, and his grandsons Robert and Daniel Love.
FUNERAL NOTICE — A memorial service for Mr. Sheehy is planned for this fall. Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, North Adams, is in charge of the arrangements.