His son, Jim Shea Sr., was a 1964 Olympian in Nordic Combined and Cross Country Skiing; his grandson, Jim Shea Jr. was the gold medalist in men's Skeleton Sledding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. In the lead-up to the Salt Lake Games, Jack participated in the Olympic torch relay, lighting a cauldron at the speed skating oval in Lake Placid where he had won his medals in 1932. Shea was killed in a head-on automobile collision by a drunk driver 17 days before he was to watch his grandson participate in the Salt Lake Games.