Jack Shea '34 was fond of ice skating on Occom Pond while at Dartmouth, though it is unlikely his friends could have kept up with him.
Shea -- who won two gold medals in speedskating at the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympics -- was also known as a father and grandfather to Olympic competitors.
His son, Jim, competed in the 1964 Innsbruck Games, while grandson Jim Jr. will compete in the skeleton at next month's Games at Salt Lake City.
Still active at 91, Jack Shea died several hours after being involved in an car accident Monday in his hometown of Lake Placid, just weeks before plans to travel to Salt Lake City with son Jim to watch his grandson compete in this year's Winter Olympics.
The driver of the other car, Herbert J. Reynolds, has been charged with driving while intoxicated, among other counts.
"It's really too bad that he won't be there because it was going to be quite an event with the three of them," classmate and 1934 Class President Emerson Day said. Shea was to be honored at the opening ceremonies of this year's Olympics.
The accomplishments of the Shea family had also been noted by the national media, with Sports Illustrated recently running a story on the trio, and Sprint producing a TV commercial featuring the Sheas. The three represented the first family ever to produce three generations of Olympians.
"He was a solid member of his class, and a prominent citizen in Lake Placid," Day said.
Just three weeks ago, Shea carried the Olympic torch -- which passed through Lake Placid on its way to Salt Lake City -- into the same skating rink where he had won his gold medals nearly 70 years ago.
Classmates who talked to The Dartmouth primarily remembered Shea's athletic accomplishments.
"He was always regarded as being a wonderful Olympic skater," John Tobin '34 said.
Day said that Shea had recently written to him expressing his pride in the achievements of his son and grandson and his fondness for his time at the College.
"He indicated that he was very proud to be a part of the Dartmouth tradition," Day said. "His is really an exciting story ... it started quietly here in Hanover in the 1930s, and now has become pretty big."
Shea was just 22 when he captured gold medals in the 500- and 1500-meter races at Lake Placid in 1932. Defeating star Scandinavian skaters en route to victory in the 500 meter race, Shea also eclipsed the mark set by his idol, Charles Jewtraw, at the first Winter Games at Chamonix, France.
"When I stood on that dais to get the gold medal and I heard the national anthem of the United States, how proud I was to represent my country, my community, my father and mother, to follow in the footsteps of Charlie Jewtraw," Shea told the Associated Press in a 1990 interview.
At the time of his graduation from the College in 1934, Shea had plans of going into law, but the economic conditions of the time left few jobs available.
"We were a class in the middle of the Great Depression," Day said. "He had wanted to be a lawyer but it didn't work out."
Shea later got a job delivering mail for a local post office.
During the 1936 Games at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, an older, more competitive Shea had an opportunity to win additional medals. Instead, he boycotted the Nazi Olympics at the behest of Lake Placid's Jewish community.
Shea, who served as the supervisor of the Town of North Elba from 1974 to 1982, was later partly responsible for bringing the Olympic Games back to his hometown in 1980.
"He certainly had an influence on the games coming back to Lake Placid," said Day, who noted Shea's devotion to his hometown during throughout his life.
Shea is survived by his wife, Elizabeth and three sons.
