Charles Edward Shannon Jr. (August 31, 1943 – April 5, 2005) was a Massachusetts state senator. He represented the Second Middlesex district from 1991 until his death in 2005, first as a Republican and later as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. A resident of

Winchester, Massachusetts Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capit ...

, Shannon served as a Lexington policeman and a Winchester town official prior to serving in the state legislature.

Biography

Born and raised in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, Shannon attended St. Mary's Elementary School and St. Mary's High School. He graduated with a B.S. from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He served as a police officer for 20 years in Lexington, Massachusetts until a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

led him to be medically retired from the force. He was cited and received awards for heroism twice. He moved to

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

in 1982. He eventually was elected and served as chairman of the Winchester Board of Assessors from 1989 until 1990. He was elected as a Republican for the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

, unseating 6 term Democratic incumbent Salvatore Albano, and was sworn in January 1991. In December 1996 he announced a switch to the Democratic Party, reversing an earlier switch; he had been a Democrat prior to serving in the Senate.Welch, William F.; James, Steven T. (eds., 2006).
Public officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2005–2006)
'. p. 70.

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

.Laidler, John (April 10, 2005).
Colleagues mourn Shannon
" ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. In December 2004, shortly after election to an eighth term, Shannon was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. He had previously been treated for cancer in 1990 and 2002. In February 2005 he received a

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, in order to replicate inside a patient and produce a ...

. Antirejection drugs he took after the transplant caused an adverse reaction, which led to his death from heart failure. He died April 5, 2005, at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

Honors

In 2008, Sandy Beach in the

Mystic River Reservation Mystic River State Reservation is a publicly owned nature preserve with recreational features located along the Mystic River in the towns of Winchester, Arlington, Medford, Somerville, Everett, and Chelsea in eastern Massachusetts ...

was renamed to Charles E. Shannon Jr. Memorial Beach.

References

Law enforcement officials from Massachusetts Massachusetts state senators Massachusetts Democrats Massachusetts Republicans Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Politicians from Lexington, Massachusetts People from Winchester, Massachusetts American municipal police officers 1943 births 2005 deaths 21st-century members of the Massachusetts General Court 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-MASenate-stub