Lucy Clark Shaw

Lucy Clark Shaw, born in Houston in 1945 to Marienne Clements and Edward Wayne Clark, passed away suddenly but peacefully in the presence of family and friends on the Friday, the 26th of December 2025. She was an independent and irrepressible force, cut from the cloth of an earlier generation, who lived life between two worlds she loved in Houston, and the town of St. Helena in California's Napa Valley.

Lucy had, by all accounts, an idyllic childhood in Houston's Tanglewood neighborhood anchored by her grandfather, a first-generation Texas rice farmer. She graduated from The Kinkaid School, where she developed lifelong friendships, before jetting away as a stewardess on Continental Airlines. Her first marriage to Charles F. Shaw (West Point Class of '65) produced five children. The Shaws spent time in Paris, where Lucy attended the famed Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, before moving in 1975 to St. Helena to found one of California's first independent, award-winning wineries, Charles Shaw Winery.

During her second marriage to Michael Beatty in 2002, also a vintner, Lucy transformed her passion for books into a business. A voracious and lifelong reader, she conceived and opened The Book Cellar, an expansively stocked and beautifully appointed book shop on St. Helena's main street. Always busy, Lucy would spend her evenings in stacks of books, expertly knitting for her children and grandchildren, or watching her Dallas Cowboys. Every daylight moment was filled with tennis, pruning roses in her beloved garden, or, later in life, the pursuit of mastery in Duplicate Bridge.

In 2020, Lucy returned to Houston, the formative town of her youth and the center of her social universe. She was a woman with a strong sense of decorum. Iced tea should be watered down, people should dress up for travel, and society would improve markedly if there were less profanity and more politeness. She was far from a scold, however, and could always be counted on for a tremendous, good time. She loved to play her music loud and loved to dance. It seemed she could be instantly transported across generations by a song. Lucy's favorite artists were Elvis Presley, Michael Bolton, and Steve Tyrell. She reveled in socializing and storytelling. She would often be rendered speechless through fits of laughter, which would resolve into tears of joy.

Lucy retained a fierce intellect, taking classes as an adult at Rice University, being a lifelong member of MENSA, and staying current on the issues of the day to the end. She was comfortable engaging anyone (from CEO to 17-year- old) on topics ranging from business, sports, and the latest in pop culture. She believed in individual liberties and was an avowed contrarian, with a wink, we believe. Invigorated by the minutiae and technicalities in a legal or medical drama, she was always up for a lively debate - she was quite sure, as an example, her doctor would agree the benefits of one American Spirit cigarette per day if it were split into thirds (this latter fact remains unverified!).

Lucy Clark Shaw will be missed by her five children, Charles F. Shaw III, Lydia Shaw Dill, Elizabeth Shaw Smith, Lucille Shaw Buell, and Clark Frederick Shaw; twelve grandchildren; her two brothers; many nieces and nephews; friends from Texas, California, and beyond; and her beloved rose gardens, for which the world will be a slightly less colorful place in her absence.

A funeral service is to be conducted at half-past ten o'clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 13th of January, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

Immediately following the service, all are cordially invited to gather with the family and share remembrances of Lucy during a reception to be held in the adjacent grand foyer.

The interment service will follow the reception via an escorted cortege, at Wharton City Cemetery at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon.

For those unable to attend the service in-person, virtual attendance may be accessed by selecting the 'Join Livestream' icon in the service section below. You are also invited to share fond memories and words of comfort with her family by selecting the 'Add a Memory' icon under the 'Show your Support' section below.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in her memory may be directed to the American Civil Liberties Union by accessing the link below or by contacting the charity of your choosing.