Patrick G. Shay

Patrick Gerald Shay, 88, passed away surrounded by his family on October 1, 2026. He was born in Sumas, Washington, on March 25, 1938, the third of eight children born to Mervin and Ruth Shay. 

Pat graduated from the University of Washington in 1962 and immediately went in to the Army, where he continued his training as a mechanical engineer and was stationed in Pennsylvania. He was honorably discharged in 1964. After his military service, he lived in Connecticut where he met Jeanne Canter. They married on April 15, 1967, beginning a partnership that would last nearly 60 years. 

In 1972, Pat and Jeanne moved their family—Karen and Tricia—to Waukesha, Wisconsin, when Pat began a new position with Allis-Chalmers. Their son, Brendan, was born in Waukesha. Pat worked for Allis-Chalmers until 1988, when he and Jeanne moved to Appleton, where he continued working for AC Compressor, a division of the same company, until his retirement. 

Pat's work was highly specialized. He spent his career testing compressors, beginning in the days before digital technology, and became one of very few people in the world with his particular expertise. His knowledge was in demand internationally, and even after retirement he continued consulting, traveling to places including Germany, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and Russia. He eventually stopped traveling when it simply became too much—but his love of travel itself never left him. He especially enjoyed having a home base and then setting out to explore everything around it. Ireland was a favorite, and no matter how many times he and Jeanne went, each trip seemed to bring a new adventure. 

Pat was deeply curious about the world around him and seemed determined to make sense of the universe by learning all he could about it. He was extraordinarily intelligent and was always reading, thinking, figuring something out, or finding something new to understand. When his children were young, he was known for his “science lesson of the day.” He was also always puttering in the garage or basement workshop, working on some project or another. 

He had a wonderful way of letting his serious side disappear when little kids were around. He loved horsing around with them—whether that meant becoming a “short-circuited robot,” playing dolphin in the pool, or getting down on the floor to be a horse. He was always willing to enter their world and play along. 

Pat’s curiosity and ability to figure things out extended to his homes. Renovating houses was one of Pat’s lifelong hobbies, and rarely was there a room that escaped his attention. Jeanne would come up with an idea, and Pat would somehow make it happen. When they were renovating their house on the Island, they jokingly referred to their method as “hand-wave and wing it.” Jeanne would wave her hands around an area and explain, often somewhat loosely, what she thought should happen there, and Pat would take it from there and turn the hand-waving into something real. It was a partnership that suited them perfectly. 

Pat also had a great love for beautiful flowers, especially fragrant ones. That love was part of the reason he created the little solarium off the keeping room in Waukesha and later built a greenhouse on the Island. He certainly hoped Jeanne would enjoy tending to the plants, but Pat loved those things himself, too. 

He had a lifelong love of British motor vehicles. Among the vehicles he owned, repaired, and restored were a 1958 BSA motorcycle, a 1967 MG that served as an everyday car, and a beautiful butter-yellow 1960 Austin Healey 3000. The Healey was his pride and joy; he trailered it home from Vermont in 1986 and restored it himself. He also rebuilt a 1964 Triumph TR4 with his son Brendan. 

For all of Pat's accomplishments and interests, some of the things his family will remember most are the ordinary moments. On summer mornings, he’d take a dry bowl of cereal out to the garden in his bare feet, pick raspberries and put them in the bowl, and then come back inside and add the milk. He spent time sledding down The Big Hill in the backyard with his children when they were growing up, or taking a hike through the nearby fields in the fall. On any given summer day, you could find him laying out in the grass of the yard, taking a nap. 

Pat was also a master of dry humor. He was quiet and never needed to be the center of attention, but he was perfectly willing to save a great joke for exactly the right moment. If you weren't paying attention, you might miss it—and sometimes that seemed to make it even better.

 Patrick was preceded in death by his parents, Mervin and Ruth Shay, and his siblings, Karen Shay, Mike Shay, and Mary Hempeck. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne (Mary Jean) Shay; his siblings, Teri Orcutt, Judi Behrens and her husband, Greg, Nancy Shay and her husband Frank Kuwik, and Jon Shay and his wife, Mary; and the spouse of his late sibling, Bill Hempeck; his children, Karen Kubiak and her husband, Chuck, Tricia Puetzer and her husband, Steven, and Brendan Shay; his grandchildren, Connor Kubiak and his wife, Sarah, Colleen Garcia and her husband, Ethan, Matthew Puetzer, and Lily Puetzer; and his great-granddaughters, Sunday, Bobbie Jean, and Millie. 

Pat leaves behind a family who will remember him not only for the things he built, repaired, and understood, but for his endless curiosity, his quiet humor, his constant projects, his love of adventure and beautiful things, and the simple pleasure of having him nearby, figuring out what came next. 

A private family service will be held.