Shelia Flanagan-Sheils

Attorney Sheila Marie Flanagan-Sheils of Clarks Summit died Monday, October 7, at Geisinger Community Medical Center after a long and courageous battle against a neurological disease. She was 36 years old.

She is survived by her husband, Attorney Robert P. Sheils III and her two children, Robert P. Sheils IV, age 4, and Clare Regina Sheils, age 21 months.

Born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, Sheila was the daughter of Attorney Joseph F. Flanagan, Laflin and the late Regina Kelley Flanagan. She was a graduate of Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Carnegie Mellon University with honors and Phi Beta Kappa and Boston College Law School. Sheila served as a law clerk to Honorable David N. Wecht of the Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, Family Division and practiced law with the Pittsburgh law firm of Wilder & Mahood. Until her illness she was a staff attorney for United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Sheila was an elegant woman with a dignified and warm personality. Her brilliant blue eyes and bright smile illuminated her life and warmed everyone's hearts. She served as coordinator for the Pennsylvania Bar Association High School Mock Trial Competition for Region 5 District 3 (Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming Counties) for several years and served as co-chairman of the Interfaith Service Committee for the Lackawanna County Bar Association. Sheila was a member of the board of directors for Meals on Wheels of Northeastern Pennsylvania and served as its secretary. She was a founding member of the St. Thomas More Society for the Legal Profession for the Diocese of Scranton. Sheila was member of Our Lady of the Snows Church, Clarks Summit and the Country Club of Scranton.

Surviving, in addition to her husband and children, are her father, Attorney Joseph F. Flanagan, Laflin; a brother, Michael Flanagan and wife, Linda, Laflin; a sister, Maureen Flanagan, Duryea; her mother-in-law, M. Constance Sheils and father-in-law, Attorney Robert P. Sheils Jr., Clarks Summit; and a sister-in-law, Ann E. Noland, Buckeystown, Md.; as well as aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Sheila was preceded in death by her mother, Regina Kelley Flanagan.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Saturday, October 12, at 10 a.m. at St. Gregory's Church, Clarks Green, to be celebrated by the Rev. John Lapera, Msgr. James McGarry, the Rev. Jeffery Tudgay and other priests of the Diocese of Scranton. Friends may call Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Jennings Calvey Funeral and Cremation Services Inc., 111 Colburn Avenue, Clarks Summit and Saturday, 9 to 9:45 a.m., at St. Gregory's Church, 330 N. Abington Road, Clarks Green.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sheils Children's Education Fund at Peoples Neighborhood Bank, 494 North Gravel Pond Road, P.O. Box 248, Clarks Summit, PA 18411; Wyoming Seminary, Office of Development, 201 Sprague Avenue, Kingston, PA 18704; or Meals on Wheels of NEPA, 541 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, PA 18404.