Obituary - Charles W. Shelley

Wednesday, January 31, 2001
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Former Juneau resident Charles Waco Shelley, 87, died Dec. 5, 2000, in Beaumont, Texas.

Shelley was born Feb. 24, 1913, on a sharecropper's farm in Bell County, Texas. He attended Temple Junior College and Texas A&M. He met and married Bonnie Baily in 1936.

In 1979, shortly after the death of his wife, he accepted the offer of Mobil to open a lobbying office in Juneau. It was at the time of the Prudhoe Bay oil strike and the planning for construction of the Alaska pipeline. Friends wrote that Shelley became a legend in the halls of the Legislature and in the state. He was a walking history book of the oil industry.

Shelley was honored in Juneau in the early 1990s for his 80th birthday. The Legislature recognized his service and dedication to the state and the city of Juneau issued a proclamation making it Waco Shelley Day. Gov. Walter Hickel wrote, "Alaskans have a great deal to thank you (Waco Shelley) for as you have tirelessly represented Mobil in the Legislature for 21 years. Your efforts on behalf of one of our major industries has benefited many Alaskans."

He was the first President Emeritus of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, a Rotarian, member of the Juneau Planning Commission and other civic organizations.

In 1997, following the death of his second wife Millie, he closed his office and returned to Beaumont to be near his family.

He was preceded in death by his daughter Luellen (Sissy) Newton in 1999. He is survived by daughter Bonnie (and husband Don) McCracken of Beaumont, Texas; son-in law Bob Newton; six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held Dec. 7, 2000, in Beaumont.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 4090 Delaware, Beaumont, Texas, 77706.

---