Saying Goodbye

Mr. John Shea 1926-2022

Mrs. Bernice Gogo 1926-2022

In the late 1980's Mr. Shea discovered his true calling: support for inner-city Catholic Schools, and scholarships for disadvantaged students. Over the last 35 years, Mr. Shea and his wife Dorothy have provided tens of thousands of scholarships and funded more than 1,000 school renovations on more than five hundred different campuses in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and across the United States.

In 2005 Aquinas began a relationship with Mr. and Mrs Shea that would transform the modest campus into what we see today. This began with an upgrade to the safety and landscaping around the campus. This was to be the first in numerous projects which has included the Matich Science Center remodel, The San Manuel Performing Arts Center/Lemman Leadership Center project, and the current Steinmann Family Innovation Center/Janice Lemann Center for Visual Arts project. Mr. Shea's belief in Catholic Education is unmatched and his gernrous and faithful presence will be missed.

Mr. Shea is survived by his beloved wife of fifty-four years, Dorothy Babbitt Shea, eight children, thirty-one grandchildren, and one great-grandson. He was predeceased by his first wife Susan Hitchcock, who died in 1967, his brother Gilbert Shea, his sister Susie Shea Hanrahan, and his granddaughter Maura Davison.

Bernice was a woman of faith. A devout Catholic, she attended Mass regularly at various parishes in San Bernardino. Over the years, she developed dear friendships with many nuns and priests. Bernice was a benefactor of many Catholic parishes and charities, including the Newman Center at USC.

Together with her husband, Bernice was proud to support the USC Football Scholarship Fund, the Swim with Mike Foundation, which supports physically challenged student-athletes in the United States, and the Aquinas High School Scholarship Fund. She was also a longtime volunteer at St. Bernardine Hospital Auxiliary where she made many friends and positively touched even more lives.

Mr. and Mrs. Gogo's generous support of Aquinas over the years has aided in well over 50 students being able to obtain an Aquinas education, as well as contributing to the general scholarship fund. In 2016 the Aquinas gym was officially renamed the Aquinas-Gogo Gymnasium due to the Gogo's generous support of the gym's renovation and addition of the Jack Henley Hall of Champions.