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Man's 3 important steps led to a life well-lived

Milton Roy Sheen followed a simple plan to become a leader in every part of his life.

By Stephanie Hayes, Times Staff Writer
Published March 2, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT Milton Roy Sheen Jr.

ST. PETERSBURG - Milton Roy Sheen Jr. believed that life was about a few equally important things.

1. Work

His family rose from the Depression to create the Milton Roy manufacturing company, which today is a huge international corporation. In 1953, Mr. Sheen opened a branch in St. Petersburg.

Later, he split off to start his own business - Suncoast Precision Tools.

It started small. He had a metal grinder in his garage. His grandchildren remember watching him sharpen tools on evenings and weekends. Eventually, the business became a supplier of reamers, drills, end mills, taps and dies.

His grandson, Milton Sheen IV, started learning the trade as a teenager, building shelves in the garage.

"He was old school," he said of his grandfather. "A very hard worker. Twelve-, 13-, 14-hour days were very common. He took me under his wing. He taught me everything I know."

2. Family

He wanted his children and grandchildren to become educated and successful. They were - his family boasts a business owner, a lawyer, a nurse. His daughter, Barbara Sheen Todd, is a former Pinellas commissioner.

But he also wanted them to feel at home. Relaxed. Special.

His granddaughter, Kimberly Phillips-Haikara, lived with her grandparents for a year. Every morning, Mr. Sheen brought her orange juice. He kept a stock of her favorite cereal, Blueberry Morning.

He doted on his wife, Jeanette, caring for her in poor health. He wasn't showy with his feelings, his granddaughter said. But he let them know in other ways.

On his big patio grill, he'd cook hamburgers for the family. He grew limes on a tree and made his own juice - his family drank it, even though it wasn't great. He made coleslaw with a special cabbage chopper. They ate it, even though it wasn't great.

"He expressed himself a lot with food," said Phillips-Haikara, 39. "He would talk a lot about his business, but he loved his family. He said family was what it was about."

3. Service

He hated waste. His favorite saying was, "There's no free lunch."

So after the 1980 collapse of the Sunshine Skyway, he used his civic influence to make a suggestion - use some of the remaining bridge to help build fishing piers. Turn it into something positive.

"His thoughts were, you know, you've already got the structure there," said Milton Sheen IV, 41. "Why waste it when you can turn it into a tourist attraction?"

He was the first chairman of the Pinellas planning council. He helped found the Bay Area Manufacturers Association. For more than 30 years, he was a member of the citizens advisory council to the Metropolitan Planning Organization. In Seminole, there is a street named after Mr. Sheen. He was a Rotarian. In 55 years, he never missed a meeting.

"I was just amazed. He was always there," said his friend Jimmy Hammond, who drove Mr. Sheen to meetings. "It just had an unusual attraction for him."

He had long suffered heart problems, his family said. On Thursday, he died. He was 87.

Before he died, he talked about how he'd miss the Rotary Club. He visited with his family. His great-granddaughter, Kaitlyn, sang him the ABCs

His grandson, Milton IV, is now president of the family business. So, Mr. Sheen's work will carry on, too.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

Biography:

Milton Roy Sheen

Born: April 2, 1920.

Died: Feb. 28, 2008.

Survivors: wife, Jeanette Brown Sheen; children, Barbara Sheen Todd and Milton Roy Sheen III; grandchildren, Kimberly Phillips-Haikara, Tamara Todd Slayton, Tiffany Todd Ciminera, Milton Sheen IV, Bryan Sheen, Tanya West-Williams, Frank West; 13 great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Services: visitation from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Monday at Sylvan Abbey Funeral Home, 2853 Sunset Point Road. Celebration of life, 2 p.m. Tuesday at Central Christian Church, 1200 Keene Road, Clearwater.

[Last modified March 1, 2008, 22:53:32]