A well-known Springfield man has died. In his nearly 92 years, Bill Shea was a husband, a father, and he opened a time portal that kept a piece of history alive. Mr. Shea passed away this weekend, but his family says he lived a life of joy. One of his greatest accomplishments lies right along the mother road as it passes through the capital city.Friends say Springfield lost a great man this weekend. Bill Shea was a World War II veteran and the founder of Shea's Route 66 Museum. It was there that thousands of people from nearly 100 different countries around the world came to visit with him. Here's what family and friends had to say about Bill Shea in their own words.Bill was an original. He was a character, said Mark McBride, a friend of Shea's and frequent visitor of the museum. He told it like it is. He's just an honest and straight-forward guy, just fun to be around.He was my father and my best friend, said William Thomas Shea.He could talk to anybody, said life-long friend Art Smith. First thing you know, he'd have everybody laughing.He had a very dry sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye, remembered Kim Rosendahl, Director of Tourism in Springfield.Yeah, Bill was a good, old boy, said Smith.In '95, or a little bit before, we started collecting some stuff, said%A
