LONDON — Joseph “Joe” Sheehan, 64, an artist, singer and songwriter, who excelled in athletics at Winona High School, died in England of cancer. Known as “The Animal” in high school, he swam the 100-yard butterfly in 53.2 seconds, which remained the team record many years. He won state gold medals in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard medley relay. As a young adult he mastered Navajo silver jewelry-making. He learned to press apple cider, which he sold at the Famine Foods Coop in Winona. He drew the labels for the cider bottles, then made his own silk-screening table to print them. He held a University of Minnesota degree in fine arts, studied classical realism at the Atelier Lack studio in Minneapolis, and earned a master’s degree in creative writing from Sheffield Hallam University in England. In Cornwall learned to make surfboards and surfed in the North Sea. He enjoyed playing music with his daughter, Mollee Sheehan of Winona, who said he played his guitar as recently as a week before he died.
1954-2020