Joseph C. Shell

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Joseph C. Shell

|image = Joseph C. Shell.jpg

|caption = Shell {{circa}} 1961

|office = Minority Leader of the California Assembly

|term = 1959–1963

|predecessor = William A. Munnell

|successor = Charles J. Conrad

|state_assembly1 = California

|district1 = 58th

|term_start1 = December 2, 1953

|term_end1 = January 7, 1963

|preceded1 = Laughlin Edward Waters Sr.

|succeeded1 = Harvey Johnson

|birth_name = Joseph Claude Shell

|birth_date = {{birth date|1918|09|07}}

|birth_place = La Conner, Washington, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2008|4|7|1918|09|07}}

|death_place = Bakersfield, California, U.S.

|party = Republican

|spouse = Barbara Morton (m. 1940 - div. 1968),
Mary K. Shell (m. 1970)

|children = 4

|education = University of Southern California (B.S.)

|branch = {{flag|United States Navy}}

|battles = World War II

| module = {{Infobox officeholder|embed=yes

| office = First Gentleman of Bakersfield

| 1blankname = Mayor

| 1namedata = Mary K. Shell

| term_start = January 6, 1981

| term_end = January 1, 1985

| predecessor = Margaret Hart (as first lady)

| successor = Rosa Payne (as first lady)

}}}}

Joseph Claude Shell Sr. (September 7, 1918 – April 7, 2008) was a Republican politician from California who served in the California State Assembly from 1953 to 1963 from the 58th district. He later served on the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. In 1962 he was a failed primary candidate for Governor of California, where he ran to the right of then former Vice President Richard Nixon.{{cite web |last1=Vassar |first1=Alex |last2=Myers |first2=Shane |title=Joseph C. Shell |url=http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/630 |website=JoinCalifornia.com |publisher=JoinCalifornia.com |access-date=March 3, 2023}}

Shell attended the University of Southern California, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and was captain of the 1939 USC football team which won the Rose Bowl that year. He then served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

His second wife was Mary K. Shell, a former member of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and the first female Mayor of Bakersfield.{{cite news |last1=Price |first1=Robert |title=Mary K. Shell: Beloved, trailblazing former mayor dies at 91 |url=https://www.bakersfield.com/news/mary-k-shell-beloved-trailblazing-former-mayor-dies-at-91/article_492cd5fe-6ff2-11e8-a02a-afa4fa080b84.html |access-date=March 3, 2023 |agency=Bakersfield.com |publisher=Bakersfield.com |date=June 14, 2018}}