Dr. James R. Shortell

Dr. James R. Shortell

Greenfield, MA - Jim Shortell, 82, passed away after an illness at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA.

Jim graduated from Greenfield High School in 1960, where he competed in basketball and was voted Most Likely to Succeed. He went on to earn his bachelor's degree at Brown University and his master's degree and Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

While completing his doctoral dissertation, he worked at the Mid-Fairfield Child Guidance Center in Norwalk, CT and was then invited to become the staff psychologist of the East Spoke inpatient behavioral health unit at the Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, where he worked for the majority of his career. After officially retiring, he continued to work for many years on behavioral health units at area hospitals including Franklin Medical Center, Providence Hospital, and the Brattleboro Retreat.

Throughout his school years and seemingly everywhere he worked, he forged friendships that continued throughout his lifetime. He enjoyed golf and pick-up basketball games with them, kayaking on day trips that generally involved a snack break halfway through, or driving to Maine for "Guys' Weekend," which was rumored to include the occasional poker game.

Jim enjoyed hiking with his kids, starting when they were very young and inspiring their love of the outdoors. Later in life, he traveled to hike with them in places like Arizona, Alaska, and Newfoundland, sometimes "cramming" in advance by hiking with a rock-laden backpack. He loved spending time on Cape Cod and the coast of Maine with his wife, kids, grandkids, and many combinations thereof.

Jim had a keen sense of humor which would often reveal itself with a wry smile that would peek through ahead of time. While working on the East Spoke, he organized the humorous in-house newsletter "The Loose Spoke" about and for his coworkers, and he personally designed holiday cards to uniquely tickle the recipient's funny bone. If he had written this obituary, he would no doubt have ended with a play on words to leave us grinning. Let's offer a tip of the hat to the funny, smart, gregarious man whom we miss dearly and who brightened our lives.

Jim was preceded by his brother Tom and parents Rob and Marge. He is survived by his wife Carol of 60 years, children Tim, Laurel, and Dan, granddaughters Andrea and Daniela, and cousins Rich, Ann, and Linda.

Plans for a gathering are incomplete at this time.