Richard Shields ’61 started a multi-generational Williston tradition
Dick Shields ’61 is not one to abandon the tried and true. He still prefers a phone call to an email. He still plays golf, skis, and swims—all sports from his Williston days. And at 79, when many of his peers have retired, he still rises at 4:30 a.m. to manage his family’s building-supply company, Dresser Hull Lumber and Building Supplies, in Lee, Massachusetts. It’s a routine that has served him well for 53 years.
Shields may be a model of consistency, but he notes that there was one period in his life when he was truly transformed: his time at Williston. “I wasn’t a very good student, but that’s where my life changed,” he says. It began with a summer school math class taught by Dan Carpenter, who, in addition to explaining algebra, passed along a memory technique that Shields still employs today. “You use association,” Shields explains. “You remember one little thing about somebody or something that will trigger your memory. It really helped me a lot in my life.”
Nowhere has Shields been more consistent than as an ambassador for Williston. His family is living proof. His daughter, Lisa Shields Ciejek ’90, was the first to follow his path to Easthampton, where she met her husband, Alex Ciejek ’90. Then came Shields’ nephew Greg Knight ’93, his son Chris Shields ’94, his niece Sarah Madden ’01, and his grandchildren Liam Shields ’20, Lily Shields ’21, Matthew Shields ’21, and Daniel Ciejek ’23. Daniel’s younger sister, Hanne, has not officially made the decision to apply, but her grandfather is feeling optimistic. “She’s been down to Williston several times to see Daniel,” he notes. “I think she’s in the fold.”
Shields’ personal and financial support for the school has been similarly unwavering. He served twice on the school’s Board of Trustees, between 1992 and 1995 and again between 2004 and 2014. During his tenure, he served as chair of the board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee, and a member of its Facilities Task Force and Finance Committee. Today, he continues to serve as a nontrustee member of the board’s Facilities Committee. Dresser Hull provided building materials for the new dorms on the Residential Quad, saving the school hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This year, the Shields family has established a financial-aid scholarship fund. “After all that’s been given to me and my family, it’s time to give back,” Shields explains. “We hope that someone gets a chance to go to Williston and is able to have what all of us have had. We all have experienced that positive impact.”