Harold Martin Shanahan; Retired Navy Commander

Harold Martin Shanahan, who spent 20 years as a Navy officer, has died in Canoga Park. He was 88.

A 35-year resident of Reseda, Shanahan died July 25 of complications of pneumonia, said his wife, Minna Shanahan.

He was born Sept. 18, 1901, in Erie, Pa. He joined the Navy in 1919 and worked as an aviation mechanic during the pioneer days of naval aviation. He was graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1926 and began 20 years as a commissioned officer.

Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Shanahan traveled California, where he gave lectures to business leaders and social groups on the dangers of totalitarian governments and Adolf Hitler, said his wife.

During World War II, he was a convoy commodore in the western Pacific and was commanding officer of an advanced air base unit in the southwest Pacific. He was promoted to commander in 1943.

After Shanahan retired from the Navy in 1946, he earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and a master’s degree in industrial management from UC Berkeley.

He worked for several defense and aerospace companies in the San Fernando Valley. He was a supervisor of master scheduling at North American Aviation-Atomics International, manager of organizational planning at The Marquardt Co. and systems analyst at Hughes Aircraft Co. In 1957, he was the founding president of a group called Systems and Procedures, which developed operating procedures for businesses. During the 1960s, he was active with the federal Service Corps of Retired Executives, helping small businesses.

Shanahan is survived by his wife of 35 years. At his request, there will be no services. J.T. Oswald Mortuary in Reseda handled the arrangements.