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Shanks, Howard E. January 28, 1933 - September 27, 2012 Longtime resident of San Marino and Solana Beach, Howard passed away at his home in Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert. Raised in Temple City, Howard attended Wilson Junior High, graduating from PCC in 1952. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering with honors from Caltech in 1954. Howard won the Hughes Masters Fellowship at UCLA in 1954 and received his Masters in Physics at UCLA in 1956. While at Caltech, he was a part of history as the starting guard on the only Caltech basketball team to win a SCIAC Championship. He received all-league honors. After one year of working toward his PhD, Howard accepted a position as Group Head at Hughes Aircraft. In 1960, he went with the start-up American Systems, Inc. (ASI). Howard holds several patents for microwave antennae used in the defense industry. His career break came when future industry titan, Dr. Henry Singleton, formerly of Litton Industries and who started Teledyne, Inc., bought ASI. As Teledyne grew into a large conglomerate, Howard became a Group Executive, overseeing multiple Teledyne companies. Relocating to Solana Beach in 1979, he moved his office to Teledyne Ryan in San Diego, and retired in 1985. His life-long partner and wife was his Pasadena sweetheart, Patricia Murphey. They were married in 1954 and raised two children in San Marino. A sports enthusiast, Howard was an avid jogger, but his true love was playing tennis at Live Oaks Tennis Club in South Pasadena and Deep Canyon Tennis Club in Palm Desert, where they had a home for ten years. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, as well as his mid-week tennis foursome, were some of his favorite times. His friendships at Live Oaks Tennis Club lasted a lifetime. His hobbies included crosswords, reading and road biking, riding as much as 40 miles a day, in Maui, San Diego, and the desert. Howard and Pat enjoyed a long, fulfilling retirement, with summers in Solana Beach, winters in Palm Desert, and also travelling to exotic places all over the world. Additionally, their favorite past-time was attending school and sporting events of their children and grandchildren. Fondly remembered by many friends, Howard is survived by the love of his life, Pat, daughter Kim Sheehy and her husband, Jim, and grandson Ryan, son Miles Shanks, and his wife Martha, along with their children Brad and Carolyn. A Celebration of the Life of Howard Shanks will be held at Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert on October 13, at 3pm.
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2 Entries
Dear Pat and Family, Please accept my deepest sympathy on your loss of Howard. I will always remember him from the Teledyne days in Newbury Park. We talked a lot about our compassion for tennis but I never did get to play a game with him. It was good to see you both last year at Marjorie's Celebration of Life. Take care of yourself. Marilyn Smith-Gasperson
Marilyn Gasperson
October 12, 2012
Dear Pat, Kim, and Miles,
Love to you as you plan the celebration of a great husband and father. Miles, it was great to talk with you today. The memories of growing up in our neighborhood together and being around your family are always happy ones filled with laughter and mischief. Love, Beth
Beth Powell McCluney
October 3, 2012
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