Jimmy John Shea was born on November 4, 1956 in Clay Center, Kansas, and raised in Salina, the oldest of five siblings. He is survived by his sisters Sara Rogers (Clarendon, Arkansas), Laurie Ross (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Beckie Shea (Sand Springs, Oklahoma); his brothers Dave Shea (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and Scott Shea (Valdosta, Georgia); Melissa Stansberry, the mother of his son Frankie; and his stepsons and daughter Kavi, Olea and Galen Treesong. His biological mother Mary Smith of Arkansas and his parents Dean Shea and Sue Woodring of Tulsa and his only child, Franklyn Stansberry-Shea, are predeceased.
In his early years, Jimmy was a track and cross country star and an academic genius in high school. He graduated from Salina High School South in 1975. He received the prestigious USSYP (United States Senate Youth Program) award and a scholarship to West Point, which he declined. Instead, he decided to hitchhike to California and live in the mountains. There he adopted the name “Winter Breeze” and family and friends knew him as Breeze.
In California, he spent several years planting trees in the Sierra Foothills, where he made new friends and met the people who would become his land partners in Weitchpec. Between his plantings, he took pickaxe and shovel to little-known crystal mines in Eastern California and Nevada, returning with collections of exquisite quartz crystals that he surrounded himself with for the rest of his life.
In 1993, at age 37, Breeze became a father to Franklyn Allessandro Stansberry-Shea, and he, Melissa Stansberry, and their son lived together for a time in the tepee Jimmy built on the mountainside. Although mother and child moved to Carlotta, the bond between him and Melissa remained forever, growing even stronger after the untimely death of their child in 2018. Jimmy spent the last 36 years of his life on his homestead, just above the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity rivers, maintaining a beautiful home surrounded by lush gardens and orchards. He had many friends and acquaintances who came and went in the story of his earthly life.
He was always a hardworking man, if not on his homestead then at various jobs on the local farms and in the forests, wielding a hoe, chainsaw or brush cutter depending on the job. He loved working the soil, raising animals and sharing the fruits of his garden, both fresh and preserved. He often donated food to the tribal elders of Hoopa. In the early days, he also volunteered at KIDE Radio in Hoopa. Breeze was a gentle and generous soul.
Freed from the bonds and suffering of mortal flesh, no longer tormented by pain and sorrow, Breeze was ready. With his recently acknowledged acceptance of his Lord, he was ready, and he has said this repeatedly since the untimely death of his only child, Frankie Stansberry-Shea. In recent years he has often said, “My faith in my Lord is strong. I am both a Christian and a pagan.”
Breeze joined his son in spirit just days before the sixth anniversary of his son’s transition into the spirit world, his “angel anniversary.”
Rest in peace in God’s garden, Breeze, with Frankie and all your elders. See you on the other side.
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The above obituary was submitted on behalf of Breeze’s loved ones. Lost Coast Outpost publishes obituaries of Humboldt County residents free of charge. Guidelines can be found here.
