Avon Obituary: Dr. John Shanley, 70

John David Shanley, MD, MPH, 70, of Burlington and formerly of Avon, beloved husband to Linda (Dobrowolsky) Shanley, passed away Monday, February 22, 2016, at home surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Los Angeles, CA, son of the late John and H. Carolee (Walker) Shanley, he was raised in CA where he received his undergraduate and medical degrees from UCLA. During the 1960s, he served during the Vietnam War with the US Public Health Service at a NIH lab in Hawaii studying virology. John joined the faculty at the University of Iowa in 1978. He joined UConn Health in 1982 and became Director of the Division of Infectious Disease in 1989. He later earned is his MPH from UConn in 2007. John spent 25 years at UConn Health where he was a clinician, administrator, educator and researcher and received the State of CT endowed chair in Infectious Disease. Dr. Shanley spent his entire medical career in infectious disease and his research was focused on viruses. After retirement from UConn, he became the Vice Dean of International Studies at Stony Brook University, NY where he continued to teach, run a travel medicine clinic and began his global health initiatives focusing on Latin America.

John’s passion for education, global health and helping underdeveloped countries encouraged him to start an NGO named “A Promise to Peru”, focusing on medical aid and public health initiatives in Peru. He has traveled extensively to Nicaragua, Haiti, Kenya, and El Salvador on medical and public health mission trips.

As a young man, he loved sports especially Rugby, which he played throughout college at UCLA. He started the Iowa City Rugby Club in Iowa before coming to CT and played for the CT Greys Rugby Club. Dr. Shanley also enjoyed coaching his children’s sports teams, especially the Burlington Hedgehogs and the Avon travel soccer teams. He was an avid scuba diver and became a Padi Assistant Instructor. He enjoyed cheering for UConn basketball and was a gourmet chef.

Besides his wife of 22 years, Linda, he leaves a daughter Erin Shanley of CO, a son John Shanley, MD and his wife Carrie Smith MD of Chicago, IL, a daughter Kristen Dickison and her partner Jessica of East Hartford, and a daughter Lisa Dickison and her partner Niki of Berlin; three grandchildren Ella, Jack, and William Shanley; a sister Karen Shanley of CO, Linda’s mother Maxine Dobrowolsky of Farmington; brothers and sisters in laws; several nieces and nephews; his compadre Mike Cipoletti, and his beloved Springer’s Monte and Caesar.

His family will receive friends Friday, February 26, 2016 from 3-8 pm at the Carmon Funeral Home & Family Center, 301 Country Club Road, Avon. A Memorial Service in Celebration of Dr Shanley’s life and work will be held Saturday, February 27, 2016, 10 am at the Carmon Funeral Home & Family Center, Avon.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to either A Promise to Peru, Inc., PO Box 427, Setauket, NY, 11733, www.apromisetoperu.org or FNE International PO Box 890286, E. Weymouth, MA, 02189, www.FNEInternational.org.

For directions or condolences please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com.