Sharon "Shine" (Lee) Shinsel Obituary (1943 - 2021)

Sharon "Shine" Lee Shinsel, 77, of American Fork passed away Tuesday, February 23, 2021. She was born October 16, 1943 in Gallup, New Mexico to Clyde B. Lee and Virginia Julius Fichtner Lee. When Sharon was born, her brother had a hard time pronouncing her name, so we started calling her "Shine". From then on, most everyone close to her called her "Shine". Sharon has a brother, Terry (Karen), sisters, Bobbi Toomer (Bob), and Charlene Fry (Ken), and nine nephews and nieces. She graduated from Gallup High School and then moved to Utah and took a secretarial job with Utah Power and Light. She was later offered a job with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Joseph Fielding Smith's office as one of his secretaries. When Joseph Fielding Smith later passed away, the staff of secretaries were clearing his desk and files and throwing them away but Sharon did not think that was a good idea so she saved them. An interesting thing then happened when she was assigned a home teacher who was a relative of President Smiths. She brought out the files she had saved and gave them to her new home teacher, much to his delight. About this time, she met Jimmy (Jim) Shinsel. They later eloped and were married in Elko, Nevada, September 30, 1976. She and Jim owned some acreage in the then rural part of Lehi at the corner of Redwood Road and the now Pioneer Crossing. They had horses, many cats, and a big Saint Bernard dog, Sarah. Jim was an outdoor guy which Shine embraced as well. He drove the big trucks for Kennecott Copper. Sometime later Jim was in a bad motorcycle accident which left him a paraplegic for many years and eventually took his life in April, 2008. Graveside services will be held Monday, March 8, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park Cemetery, 17111 South, Camp Williams, Bluffdale, Utah. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.olpinmortuary.com.