Regina Sue Sheehan (78) was born Jan. 4, 1935, in Henrietta, MO, to Ray and Lucille Merrell.  She passed away peacefully on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013.

Sue was raised in Missouri until the death of her father in 1950, when she moved to California to live with her uncle Hollister “Hub” Gilliland.  She attended Fresno High School and went on to major in education in college, earning an Associate of Arts degree from Fresno City College in 1955 and a Bachelor of Arts degree and elementary teaching credential from Fresno State College (now California State University, Fresno) in 1957.

She married Marvin Sheehan in November 1951 and they established a home in Fresno before she embarked on an elementary teaching career that spanned five decades in Fresno and Madera counties.  She taught for two years at Centennial Elementary School in Fresno for two years before she and Marvin became parents to their only child, Tim, in 1960.  The family moved to Madera in 1962, and after taking several years off to raise her son, Sue returned to teaching in the Madera Unified School District.

During her career, Sue touched the lives of hundreds of students in every grade level from kindergarten to eighth grade at Centennial and Jefferson elementary schools in Fresno; and Ripperdan, Webster and Millview Elementary schools in Madera.  She received her California general elementary life teaching credential in 1967. 

Her longest tenure was at Madera’s John Adams Elementary School, where she taught for 16 years from 1970 to 1986.  She also served as a “master teacher” supervising student teachers from Fresno State for their classroom training as they pursued their teaching credentials.  She was known for her creativity in teaching reading and math, and her career included teaching GATE (gifted and talented) classes.

After retiring from full-time teaching in 1986, Sue spent several years traveling in the southwestern U.S., during which time she taught at several private schools.  She returned to California in 1994, moving to Selma to be near her son, Tim, and daughter-in-law, Linda.  She did some substitute teaching at elementary schools in Selma and Fowler for several years before retiring for good in the late 1990s.

In her retirement, Sue enjoyed working on crafts, word and math puzzles, and being a “grandma” to her “grandpuppies,” Tim and Linda’s pet dachshunds Shakespeare, Peanut and Butters.

Sue is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Linda Sheehan of Selma, and numerous nieces and nephews in California and Missouri.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Ray Edmond Merrell and Lucille Gilliland Fini and her former husband, Marvin Sheehan.