David W. H. Shale

David Shale, aged 83, died Thursday, January 7, 2016, from respiratory disease.  Born on March 22, 1932, in Christchurch, New Zealand, he was the son of Sidney Howard Shale, who was born in England in 1871, and Annie Selina Shale, nee deJoux, who died suddenly at the age 39 when Mr. Shale was six.  Until he was 11 he lived in the country, acquiring his preference for country life.  He attended St. Andrew’s Preparatory School, where he acquired a love of English literature, and graduated from Canterbury College at age 20 with a Master’s degree and First Class Honors in Mathematics.  In 1954 he entered the mathematics program at the University of Chicago, receiving his PhD from there.  He spent time at the Mathematics Institute in Copenhagen, the University of Toronto, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, before coming to the University of Pennsylvania in 1964, retiring from there as Professor Emeritus at the end of 1999.

His scientific interests, apart from mathematics, included physics and astrophysics, and after his retirement he added economics, besides reading widely in many subjects.  The work for which he is best known was done in Copenhagen when he was 26.  As a professor he enjoyed teaching large classes of gifted students. 

In 1966 he married his wife, Marilyn, and in 1970 the family moved from Philadelphia to the Chester County farmhouse that became the focus of their lives and whose rebuilding by hand became an avocation.  Mr. Shale loved the domestic architecture and furniture of mid-eighteenth century America, the paintings of the Venetian Renaissance, and the music of Mozart and Bach.  He also loved country life.  Among his pleasures was following hounds on foot and for several years he was a member of the Skycastle Hounds.  He also enjoyed driving his 1954 vintage sports car on the country roads west of Marshalton.  He was also an oenophile and a French cook.  But many of his tastes were negative and he deplored many things that had happened in his own lifetime including modern art, television, and much of the internet.  Particularly distressing was what he regarded as the degradation of American universities in the 21st century and certain decisions of the United States Supreme Court.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, son Joshua Shale of Hudson, Ohio, daughter Jennifer Adams of Westerville, Ohio, their spouses, and five grandchildren.  He is also survived by his sister, Jennifer Bertram of Christchurch, New Zealand.  A mass of Christian burial will be said at St. Malachi Chapel near Cochranville, on Saturday, January 16, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. followed by interment in the graveyard there.  No flowers, please.