Five generations, one Flyer family
When Mary Anne Sharkey ’74 reflects on her family’s century-long connection to the University of Dayton, she sees more than a collection of degrees and accomplishments.
“For me, our family’s history at UD is about the opportunities a Catholic education can open and what we choose to do with them — whether in law, writing, journalism or preserving our hometown's history,” said Sharkey.
That story spans five generations and begins with her grandfather, John C. Shea.
In 1926, the University awarded Shea, who served as the first dean of UD’s law school, an honorary doctor of laws degree in recognition of his contributions to accessible legal education, particularly for working students. Alongside other Dayton attorneys, Shea helped establish a night law program, expanding opportunities for those who couldn’t attend law classes during the day.
Shea’s dedication to expanding educational opportunities extended far beyond UD’s law school. In 1925, he represented Black families whose children were denied a quality education after being assigned to basement classrooms in Dayton public schools. He won the case before the Ohio Supreme Court in one of the state’s earliest desegregation rulings.
“What stands out to me is my grandfather’s determination to give people an opportunity at a time when prejudice closed so many doors,” Sharkey said.
A third-generation Flyer and former English major, Sharkey found her voice as a reporter for Flyer News, launching a successful journalism career.
“I was deeply honored to receive the National Alumni Association’s Special Achievement Award in 1997,” Sharkey said. “It recognized a journalism career that included becoming the first woman to head an Ohio Statehouse bureau and the first woman to serve as editorial page editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.”
Beyond law and journalism, her family’s influence continues to span multiple fields. Her father, Donald C. Sharkey ’34, built a career writing Catholic books and parochial school textbooks. Her brother Gerald “Jerry” Sharkey ’65 carried the family’s commitment to service into local historic preservation. Credited in his Dayton Daily News obituary as a founder of Aviation Trail Inc., he helped preserve sites connected to the Wright brothers and established the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
Though their careers followed different paths, each reflected values rooted in service, education and a commitment to their community.
Today, those values live on in the family’s fifth generation.
Jack Sharkey ’27, Sharkey’s great-nephew and a mechanical engineering student at UD, is continuing the family’s University legacy that has endured for more than 100 years. His father, Christopher Sharkey ‘95, graduated with a degree in business, representing the family’s fourth generation of Flyers.
“I hope Jack will take pride in that history and find his own way to contribute. Five generations of Jack's family — his great-great-grandfather John C. Shea, his great-grandfather Don Sharkey, his grandfather Nick — are smiling from above.”
A century after John C. Shea helped expand access to legal education, the family’s Flyer story continues, carried forward by a new generation and guided by the same commitment to learning, leadership and service that first brought them to UD.
Photo provided by the Sharkey family.