Martha Shaw

Martha was born in Dallas, Texas on March 13, 1923 and died on February 6, 2015, in Austin, Texas. She graduated from Texas Woman's University in 1942. Martha worked for the Postal Inspection Service in New Orleans and Fort Worth and for the Regional Finance Division, Post Office Department, in Dallas. She retired at a young age as the highest-ranking woman outside Washington, D.C. and then began her worldwide travels with her long-time friend Maxine Morrison.

Martha graduated in 1942 from Texas State College for Women, now Texas Woman's University, at Denton. By taking summer classes she completed all course requirements in three years. Only a month after graduating, she began working for the Post Office's Inspection Service, responsible for the audit of post offices and the investigation of depredations and mail fraud. In 1951, she was transferred to Fort Worth and later began working in Dallas for the Post Office Department's Regional Finance Office, taking early retirement on May 31, 1971.

Martha was a real Dallasite. Her Mississippi and Louisiana ancestors settled in Dallas County before and during the Civil War, including the Andrews, Hawthorne, Keach, Lee, and Shaw families. Some are buried in Lee Cemetery at Seagoville, on land donated by and named for her great-great-grandfather James J. Lee. Happy childhood memories are associated with her musically-gifted mother, Rhea, organist for many years for the Methodist Church. On Saturday afternoons Rhea gathered her three children and took them to the cool, darkened theater in Oak Cliff where she played organ music during the silent movies.

Martha was a serious collector of coins, stamps and savings banks, the small kind with a slot into which coins are dropped. What other hobbies would you expect from a lady whose working-career years were spent with the U.S. Postal Service? Quite appropriately, several of her "piggy banks" are not pigs, but old wooden post office boxes with combination locks or keys and replicas of street post office boxes. She also had souvenirs of her many travels. She and Maxine loved league bowling and went to State competitions.

Miss Shaw met her good friend and traveling companion, Maxine Morrison, in 1951. They were introduced to each other by Maxine's cousin, Adrian, a fellow stamp collector. The two neighbors moved to PVN simultaneously, where they continued to enjoy their-long-time happy association and common interests until Maxine's death in 2011.

In September of 2013, her niece Martha Rhea Cervenka and her nephews Hank Madeley and Jim Madeley moved her from Dallas to Austin, where she happily lived until her death. The year and a half that Martha lived in Austin was an incredible gift to her Austin family. We loved being able to visit her often, where we would discuss current events and sports - especially the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Mavericks - or help with her jigsaw puzzle.

FAMILY was most important to Martha. Because she never had children of her own, she served as our mother, grandmother, aunt and friend. We will all miss those visits. Before Martha's death, she was able to visit with family and friends to say goodbye. She died knowing how very much she was loved.

Martha is survived by nephews, Hank Madeley and wife Suzann of Austin; Jim Madeley and wife Corene of Temple; niece, Martha Rhea Cervenka and husband Richard of Austin; great-niece, Madelon McGrenera and husband Ryan; great- nephew, Marc Madeley and wife Dena; great-nephews, Brian Madeley, Darren Madeley, and Richard Madeley Cervenka and wife Tara; great-great-nieces, Reese McGrenera and Peyton Madeley; and great-great-nephews, Grady McGrenera and Breydan Madeley.

Her family wishes to thank Rev. Rudy England and David Orton for their special support during this time. Gratitude is also extended to the employees of West Oaks Rehab and Health Care Center for their kind care, and to New Century Hospice of Austin for their compassion and gentle guidance.

Funeral Services will be held at 5:00 pm Friday, February 13, 2015 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 South Congress Ave., Austin, Texas. Graveside Service 2:00 pm Saturday, February 14, 2015 at Lee Cemetery, Seagoville, Texas.