Mary Paula "Polly" Shea

Mary Paula "Polly" Shea
May 14, 1937 - July 22, 2025
Polly Shea was a native New Yorker who grew up in the Parkchester neighborhood of The Bronx with her father (Herman Rieger), beloved mother (Elizabeth Casey), and three close siblings (Ann, Patrick, and Anthony). The city may have made her tough, but it never melted her heart of gold.
Her early adult years were quite glamorous - being a hat model for the prestigious Best & Co. department store in Manhattan, briefly dating baseball great Mickey Mantle, and winning diamond jewelry on The Price is Right (the original version hosted by Bill Cullen who called her "beautiful" on live TV).
Polly would soon settle down in Yonkers with her new husband, John "Jack" Magan, just outside of NYC. There she had five children (Casey, Craig, Christopher, Glenn, and Cathy) whom she adored. Polly and Jack would soon separate and she found herself to be a single mother, taking the Metro-North train into the city each weekday to work at Bloomingdale's to help make ends meet. If she was lucky, maybe her best friend Margaret would be available for a drink before commuting home.
Much later, fate would take her to Manchester, CT, where she fell in love with John "Jack" F. Shea, a widower and retired Connecticut Supreme Court judge. They met-and later got married-at the Manchester Country Club where Polly was running the golf course concession stand with her dear friend, Lorraine. They eventually retired down to Jack's second home in Hobe Sound, FL, where they lived happily ever after until his death in 2013. Polly lived for a dozen more years surrounded by wonderful friends (like Wanda, Pat, and Sue - just to name a few) before she passed away in the beautiful home of her friend and caregiver, Mary. She has been laid to rest in Crestlawn Cemetery in nearby Vero Beach.
Polly was unforgettable in so many ways: funny, generous, and so kind to people from all walks of life. She was a quick wit who loved a good joke and never let a pun go unused. She even named the album "Cornucopia" for jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. She will easily be remembered by those who knew her - likely picturing her in a bright-colored top, comfortable white pants, and blingy sandals - obviously with a book in one hand (she typically read three of them a week) and a cold glass of white wine in the other. An almost-finished New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle lays in her lap while music plays in the background (Beethoven, Simon & Garfunkel, Roberta Flack...). Tons of photographs - of her children, granddaughters Zoe and Eva, and her late husband - surround her. The room is filled with the delightful aroma from a pot of freshly-made lentil soup gently simmering on the stove. She would be looking forward to one of her children calling her on the phone soon - while anticipating playing bridge with her dear friends after the leftover soup has been put away. And then she would come home and perhaps top off the day with a scoop or two of ice cream before reading again until falling asleep.
Polly leaves behind so many others who loved her (like daughters-in-law Nadine and Marlo, sons-in-law Russ and Brian, her nephew John, longtime family friends Lynn and Pamela, and a plethora of others she befriended along the way). Her colorful 88 years were well-lived. And those of us who knew her understand how lucky we are to have been a part of them.
Arrangements by Strunk Funeral Homes & Crematory, Vero Beach, FL. A guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com