Patricia L. Shea, guidance counselor

Patricia Lindsay Shea, a retired guidance counselor in the Baltimore County school system and the mother of Democratic gubernatorial candidate James L. Shea, died of heart failure Friday at her home in Brightwood Retirement Community.

The former Murray Hill Road resident was 92.

“My mother lived a long and a full life,” said her son, a resident of Owings Mills. “She was strong willed and intellectually curious and was therefore able to enjoy much of it.”

Born in Baltimore County and raised on Murray Hill Road, she was the daughter of James J. Lindsay Jr., a lawyer, circuit judge and legislator who served as president of the Maryland Senate in the 1940s, and his wife, the former Etta O’Toole.

She was a 1943 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School and obtained a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Washington. She later received a master’s degree in education from what is now Loyola University Maryland.

In 1948 she married John R. Shea Jr., who had a glass sales business.

After raising a family, Mrs. Shea joined the Baltimore County Department of Education and was a counselor at Kenwood High School, Towson High School, Hereford High School and Dumbarton Middle School. Mrs. Shea was a longtime member of L’Hirondelle Club, where she was an avid outdoor tennis player. She was also a member of the Mount Vernon Club.

A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, 200 Ware Ave., in Towson.

In addition to her son, she is survived by two other sons, John R. Shea III of Alexandria, Va., and Steven L. Shea of Owings Mills; a daughter, Lindsay Shea Hardesty of North Roland Park; a sister, Ellen Lindsay Elcock of Brookline, Mass.; 11 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Her husband of 47 years died in 1995.