Harriet A. Shaw age 92 passed away October 14, 2019. Per her wishes, cremation rites have been accorded and a celebration of life will be from Thursday, October 17, 2019 from 5-7 pm at Weerts Funeral Home. Inurnment will be private.
Harriet is survived by her son, Alan (Linda) Shaw; daughter, Susan (George) Shaw Pavlakis; granddaughter, Sarah Shaw; grandson, Gregory Pavlakis and sister-in-law, Rose Barlon. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ben Shaw; sister in law, Lois Shaw Havenhill; brother-in-laws, Sam Havenhill and Bill Barlon and nephew, Tim Havenhilll.
In lieu of plants or flowers, please give to The Salvation Army, which quietly serves the needy in our area and throughout the world without high administrative salaries and publicity.
Harriet was born on August 15, 1927 in Indianola, Iowa to Frank and Naomi Geddes. Her father died in 1936 and mother in 1939, so she went to live with her mother’s brother and wife, Alvie and Jane Morningstar in Joplin, Missouri.
She spent the next six years with them during frequent moves to Oklahoma, Kansas and back to Joplin. There she finished high school and graduated junior college with an Associate Degree in Education. After teaching a year, she joined a cousin in Des Moines, Iowa doing office work. She later joined another cousin in Berkley, California where she did office work and enjoyed exploring the San Francisco Bay area by cable car.
She returned to Iowa taking a teaching job in Camanche. Here she met Ben Shaw, from Princeton and they were married on June 3, 1950.
They bought the old Shaw house facing the river. It only had electricity and the upper floor was unfinished. This meant work and resources for many years ahead.
In 1952, a son was born in January and a daughter in November for “Two in Fifty-Two.”
After installing water and sewer (it was 1965 before the city offered these) and a furnace, life improved.
Not given to joining groups, they enjoyed their friends and kept busy with house projects. Harriet served as a clerk on the school board and as town clerk. In 1987, she became substitute clerk. She enjoyed serving the townspeople and occasionally filling in for the Postmaster for over 30 years.
After their two graduated from college, they spent vacations traveling the U.S. in their VW camper. Later they spent winters in the South in their motorhome. They also enjoyed their small boat. From their sun porch each summer, they enjoyed watching geese, pelicans and ducks across the channel. The huge passenger “Queens” cruised by several times a year plus boats of all sizes. The tow boats push small and huge tows of barges containing grain, oil, etc. Then there comes the lone adventure paddling a canoe from the source near St. Paul to the mouth of the river at New Orleans. As Mark Twain told us, there is a magic to the river, which they have shared these many years.
During this time, they have celebrated birthdays, graduations, weddings and anniversaries in their home by the river and felt blessed to have all those memories.
