LaDonna Shea was born in Minnesota but her family moved to California when she was four. She grew up in Whittier and Glendora and attended UCLA where she graduated in 1970 with a BA in theatre arts. After graduation she became a flight attendant with Pan Am. Pan Am transferred her to Hawai'i where she lived for 18 years.She wanted to experience every bit of fun and adventure Hawai'i had to offer, from the Waikiki Rough Water Swim and Primo Fun Run to hiking Haleakala and swimming with the dolphin in Manele Bay. She loved sailing and spinnaker flying, scuba dining and ocean kayaking, kayaking the north shores of Oahu, Kauai and Moloka'i, where our party was picked up when landing at Kalaupapa by her friend Bill.
When the first and second woman pilots were hired by major carriers she immediately began flight training. Within a year she was flying for smaller carriers including Air Moloka'i, where she flew the last DC 3 in regularly scheduled passenger service in the US and Scenic Air Tours, where she introduced hundreds of tourists to Hawai'i from the Air. One of a group of pioneering Hawai'i women pilots, she went on to fly L1011 first officer and DC 9 captain for Hawaiian Air and 747 first officer and 737 captain for United Airlines.
United transferred her to Colorado in 1994 where she retired and lived with Michael, her husband of 42 years, black angus cattle, and her devoted dogs until she passed away on November 16, 2021, but she never forgot her friends from Hawai'i. A small service is being planned in Colorado for January and Celebration of Life happy hours will be planned in the spring in Colorado and Hawai'i. Because of venue restrictions, anyone interested in participating in any celebration is asked to contact Michael at Shearanch2@aol.com.
Those interested in viewing a more extensive and detailed obituary can view it at the Boulder Daily Camera website. In lieu of flowers, donations in her honor may be made to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley or the Southern Poverty Law Center.
