Letter To The Editor
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Dear Bob Funkhouser:
I wanted to write you to compliment you on your article on John Shea. I thought you did a exceptional job of capturing the person and horseman John was. The interesting thing about John I have found is everyone has a great John Shea story. He impacted so many lives, as a trainer and friend. I had the great experience to spend a lot of time with John both as a young high school student, working as a groom traveling the country with John in the summers, and later as a customer
and more importantly as a friend. I have had both ponies and road horses with John off and on for the last 10 years and have known John and Loraine for almost 40 years.
As a customer, one thing always stood out was that he treated every customer the same whether you were one of the most influential and powerful in the business, or if you barely had two nickels to rub together. John spent a lifetime of teaching without telling you he was teaching you. You just learned and later realized where you had received the knowledge from.
I had the opportunity to speak at John’s memorial for the family, the second greatest honor I have experienced. The first was knowing John.
Thank you for your wonderful article, you captured so many of the great qualities of John, and you are right. . . it won’t be the same.
Best Regards,
Doug Greenwood
(Editor’s Note: Doug, thanks for taking the time to write and share your insight. John left a lasting impression on many of us and I’m sure we’ll be telling “Shea stories” for many years to come.)
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