Mrs. James Shea was the daughter of Frank Currier and Jennie (Anderson) Currier and grew up in Oxbow, Aroostook County, Maine. Her father ran a lumbering operation and she used to visit the camp on Saturdays. She attended Presque Isle High School and trained as a nurse at Presque Isle General Hospital. She also worked at the summer home of Jane Ordway in North Penobscot. In 1943, she got married and moved to Bar Harbor where she was active in their Garden Club, Congregational church, Auxiliary Harmony chapter of OES, and YWCA. After her husband's death in 1965, she moved with her sister to Bangor, Maine.