Sidney Shannon

Sidney R. Shannon Jr., 96, of Corvallis died Monday, July 18. Born Dec. 7, 1914, in Bismarck, N.D., he was the only son of Sidney R. Shannon and Minnie Pearl Nichols Shannon. He moved to Fargo, N.D., for junior high school, where he played trombone and earned the Boy Scout rank of Eagle at age 13. Sid graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1932, participating in gymnastics and ice hockey. He was a water safety instructor and camp counselor in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. A 1936 graduate of North Dakota State University in mechanical and electrical engineering, Sid was a Reserve Officer Training Corps Colonel and a member of Tau Beta Pi fraternity. He was selected to attend Camp Perry, Ohio, as a competitive marksman in the U.S. Army. Earning his private pilot’s license at age 21, his passion for airplanes and aerospace landed him at GE and then as an engineer and test pilot at Lockheed in Southern California during World War II. Sid married “his bride” of 65 years, Grace VanVliet Vanny, in 1943. She died in 2009. Continuing his education, Sid received a degree in industrial design from California Institute of Technology in 1948. This achievement was followed by employment at Boeing (Seattle, Wash.) and Cessna (Wichita, Kan.), and a return to Southern California in 1955 with Robert Shaw and McDonald Douglas. After raising their daughter in Newport Beach, Calif., Sid and Gracie relocated to Corvallis in 1973. Sid worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University. Sid shared his passion for competitive shooting, serving as the OSU Pistol Team advisor. He was a National Rifle Association referee for 22 years. Sid was a member of the Corvallis Lions Club since 1975. Sid’s retirement included travels far and wide with his family, and a continued enthusiasm for pioneering and experimental aviation. He was a founding member of the Eugene Hangar of Quiet Birdmen, and designed and built an experimental airplane. Sid exercised his skills as an engineer and craftsman throughout his life, and he never ceased designing and building for himself and those around him. His daughter, George Deborah Shannon Maddox (Ken), and grandchildren, Riley and Shannon, are recipients of his fine work, and testimony to his life well lived. No service is planned. Donations in his honor can be given to the Corvallis Lions Club, P.O. Box 1899, Corvallis, OR 97339.

Tributes

Sidney Shannon

December 7, 1914 - July 18, 2011