Gordon A. Shanks

September 11, 1934 - May 8, 2021 Gordon Arthur Shanks, O.D., former Mayor and Councilman of Seal Beach, passed away from complications of supra-nuclear palsy on May 8, 2021. He was 86 years old. Born in Garden City, Kansas on 9/11/1934, he led an early life full of travel, including a 1947 voyage on a Transpac racer returning from Hawaii to San Francisco, attended High School in Yokohama, Japan and the Wentworth Academy (Missouri), followed by Kansas University (Go Jayhawks!) and U.C. Berkeley, where he trained as an optometrist. He met Elouise Le Duc at Berkeley and they were married for 48 years until her passing in 2004. Gordon established his first practice in Solana Beach in 1959, followed by others in El Centro, Sacramento, and Riverside before moving to Seal Beach in 1966 to lead the optometric branch of Family Health Plan. A devoted student of history, politics and drama, Gordon quickly became a regular fixture at City Council, Planning Commission and other meetings in his new home town. A lifelong Republican whose best friends were often Democrats, he joined a small group of civic-minded residents who vigorously disagreed with the aggressive development planned by the then City Manager and Council, as summarized in a General Plan which saw Seal Beach growing to over 80,000 residents by 1980. A series of vigorous-sometime bitter-campaigns were waged to promote rational growth and maintain open space. Protection of the P.E. Right-of-Way (the park land along Electric Avenue) was a critical early objective, eventually allowing the acquisition and refurbishment of a Red Car to serve as the home of the Seal Beach Historical Society-with Gordon and Elouise as founding officers. Following an unsuccessful run for City Council in 1974, Gordon served on the City Council from 2006-2014, including two years as Mayor. Though his health deteriorated in later years, he never lost his gregarious nature and quick wit. He remained intensely proud of the City of Seal Beach and concerned for its sound governance to the very end. He is survived by his two sisters: Martha Martin (of Big Bear City) and Betty Birkemark (of Lomita) and two sons: Joseph (of San Diego) and Christopher (of Sacramento), and four grandchildren. The City of Seal Beach is hosting a Memorial service to be held at Eisenhower Park, June 27 at 2:00 PM, to which all are invited.