May 26,1923 – October 30, 2021
Margaret Mary Shields, devoted wife and mother, passed away peacefully October 30 at her home of 65 years in Pacific Palisades. Her children were at her at her bedside.
Mickey, as she was known to her friends, neighbors and fellow Corpus Christi parishioners, was born Margaret Mary Bondzinski in Chicago, Illinois, on May 26, 1923.
Margaret was educated at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Conservatory of Music. A soaring soprano, she appeared in many productions staged by the Conservatory and the University of Chicago.
Married in 1944, Margaret lost her first husband (Clayton J. Roberts) in the Pacific Theater of WWII in 1945. Like many a young widow with an infant child, she did not return to college, but instead taught returning GI’s secretarial and general business skills at Fox Secretarial School in Chicago so that they might re-enter the U.S. workforce.
In 1949, Margaret and her young daughter moved to California. In 1956, she met and married Jay M. Shields, a local professional geologist and conservation activist, who worked tirelessly to include Los Liones Canyon and trailhead into the Santa Monica Mountains Park Conservancy.
Settling in Pacific Palisades, the Shields expanded their family to include three boys.
Margaret was a devoted member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church where all her children attended school. She could be found working in the principal’s office or teaching her cooking class, from the cookbook she created for eighth-grade boys and girls that is still used by the grandchildren of her many students.
The active mother of four was an avid gardener and amateur horticulturist, propagating new plants for her own and her neighbors’ gardens—earning her the unofficial title: “heirloom tomato queen.” A gourmet chef, “Mickey’s Table” was one of the most coveted reservations in town.
Both Margaret and Jay (deceased in 1997) were avid outdoorsmen and loved the Southwest. Both were long-time members of the Wilderness Flyfishers Club.
Margaret’s joy, grace, curiosity and intelligence will be deeply missed and eternally appreciated by her four surviving children: Nancy Roberts; William Shields, James Shields, Jay Shields; her brother William Bondy; and grandchildren, True, Zane, Laura Michael Shields and Kim Rocco Shields.
Margaret will be laid to rest alongside her husband, Jay M. Shields, at St. Casimir’s Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois. Memorial masses will be said in her remembrance at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Pacific Palisades. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.
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