Obituary
Graveside services for Richard Shields, 83, of Portales, will be held at 2:00 PM, Fri., Dec. 31, 2021 in the Portales Cemetery with Rev. Wayne Moore officiating. Terrence Shields, J. D. Allbright, Jesse Blue, Cameron Munro, Joshua Satterfield and Stephen Shields will serve as pallbearers. Joshua Allbright along with all of his great-grandsons will serve as honorary pallbearers.
Richard Dale Shields was born April 28, 1938 in Melrose, NM to the home of Beatrice Aletha (Hays) and Bryon Dale Shields and died early Sunday morning, Dec. 26, 2021 in Clovis, NM. Mr. Shields grew up in Clovis. He loved cars and mechanic work all of his life. By the time he was 21 years old, he had bought and traded in the neighborhood of 20 cars. He began working for the railroad, but was drafted into the US Army in 1961. He served for two years, and was an expert marksman. During his years of service, he was stationed in Europe as well as the United States. Following his discharge, he again went to work for the railroad. He was working in Albuquerque, at the time of his marriage to Jo Marie Monroe on Mar. 18, 1964. He moved with the railroad to Clovis, and eventually to Bellville, TX and finally to Fort Worth, TX where he was living when he retired in 1999. By that time he was a Mechanical Supervisor.
Following his retirement, they returned to Portales to make their home. All of his life, he was a very hard working man. During their retirement years, he and his wife ran a commercial lawn service. Following his love of mechanics, he bought and completely rebuilt a 1959 Jeep Willy, of which he was very proud. Together, he and his wife raised gourds that he then painted and used as gifts and decorations in their home. Mr. Shields was a very family centered man, and was deeply devoted to his wife until her death on April 20, 2020.
He is survived by his daughter, Mickie Patterson of Portales; his son and daughter-in-law, Alton and Betsy Shields of Roswell; eight grandchildren, Joshua Allbright, Joe Allbright, Jesse Blue, Tara Satterfield, Terrence Shields, Sara Shields, Stephen Shields and Clemencia Harmon; and six great-grandchildren, Savannah Allbright, Dane Allbright, Logan Munro, Cylis Munro, Jordan Shields and Eden Shields. In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Jerry Don Shields and Hal Dayton Shields, a sister, Betty Shirley and a daughter, Suzanne Sara Shields.
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