Jacqueline Marie Shaw

The world lost a genuine soul Friday, March 4th when Jackie Marie Shaw passed away unexpectedly at home in Helendale at the age of 71. Jackie was born in Los Angeles and raised in Santa Ana by parents John and Marilyn Mahany. The oldest of three children, Jackie stayed close to her parents through her entire life. Her loving mother, Marilyn, taught Jackie how to be uncompromisingly tough and compassionate beyond reason. Marilyn preceded Jackie into eternal life in 1997. John, known by Jackie and many others as Pop, loved and cared for Jackie in only the way a father can from the day she was born in 1951 through the very last day of her life. Jackie also leaves behind younger brothers John and Don Mahany.

Jackie graduated from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana in 1969. Her early adult years were spent swimming, waiting tables at a local restaurant (a job she recalled fondly), and scuba diving. The vibrant colors and underwater life she encountered on a diving trip to Honduras formed the basis for stories she told throughout her life. Her 8-year marriage to Bill Pope Sr. took her then to Yucca Valley and Barstow.

The high desert has been Jackie’s home for more than 40 years. She loved the early morning hours watching the desert sunrise each day. She loved to crochet and play golf. She loved her dogs. Most of all, she loved her boys. Her dear late husband, Walter Shaw, passed away in an automobile accident in 1987. From that day, forward she raised Bobby and Billy Pope on her own and against the odds. She somehow managed to juggle bills and meals while never missing a baseball game. She worked hard to make ends meet while also working even harder as the football team’s Team Mom. She gave everything she had - and an awful lot she didn’t - to give her boys a chance to succeed. She was proud of them. They remain incredibly proud of her.

This unbridled love and hard work formed the foundation that welcomed her daughters in law, Amanda and Monica Pope into her life. A boy-mom who (self-confessed) longed to have girls of her own, welcomed these two women as her own. This also carved the path for Momma to become Grandma to the four jewels of her life: Abbey (16), Tyler (13), Blaine (6) and Shelby (8 months). These grandkids received the very best homemade Halloween costumes, unequaled chocolate chip cookies, and the warmest hugs on Earth because their Grandma loved them so. Each of them went home from the hospital wrapped in one of Grandma’s handmade blankets. They snuggle new versions of those blankets today.

The story of Jackie’s life is incomplete without paying special tribute to the dogs she raised and loved. Over the decades, she gave Bear, Queenie, Michael, Spot, Winnie, Penny, Tommy, Katy, Jesse, Cindy, and Daisy the very best lives any dogs ever lived. Some came from shelters, others from pet stores, and other still from orphaned homes. And while these dogs might have been hers, Jackie loved every dog belonging to the neighbors, passers-by, or no one at all. It is said you can judge the heart of a person by her treatment of animals. This is true. It also reveals the care, warmth, and compassion that marked Jackie’s soul to those who knew her best.

Anyone who visited Jackie’s house for a special occasion likely enjoyed three things: her famous potato salad (mass production would have made her a fortune), apple cake from a generational family recipe, and a gallery-worthy collection of angel figurines. To Jackie, these angels represented so many guardians who looked down and moved about to protect us from harm. Those closest to her, especially her boys who grew to become a firefighter and a military officer, know without a doubt they have a new guardian angel watching them from heaven’s peaceful gardens where the sun shines and the tails wag. As we look back on Jackie’s extraordinary, selfless, giving life, it’s easy to see she’s been preparing for this role all along.