Meredith Linwood Shaw

Meredith Linwood Shaw died in his sleep on August 22, 2020. He was born in Baltimore City on March 11, 1930, the youngest of 5 children born to Leslie Claggett Shaw and Mildred Lambdin Shaw. His mother passed away in 1933 with tuberculosis, and Meredith attended Baltimore Junior College where he played lacrosse until he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War. He was trained in the Signal Corps where the CIA took notice of his talents and conscripted him as a communications officer and cryptographer where he served for 37 years retiring from the Senior Intelligence Service as a Langley director of communications in 1987. Upon the urging of friends and family, he extensively documented many of his experiences during the Cold War era in the defense of the United States. His involvement included not only the Korean War but also the development and implementation of the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes, the Cuban missile crisis and the Middle East conflict while spending much of his time in Guam, the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, and the Middle East.

Meredith was married to Dolores Anne Sroka, also a native of Baltimore, from 1952 to 1979, and together they raised 8 children with 2 children born in Mexico City while he was stationed there. He resided in Olney, Maryland, until his death. In retirement, he maintained that special bond that only spies can share by participating in monthly luncheons with other retired CIA communications officers.

His retirement life was full of excitement and he always had a special companion on his jaunts to Aruba, Bermuda, and Cancun. In Olney, he was well-liked and well-known as an outgoing, flirtatious, and fun-loving person. He was a fixture at his favorite local establishments, knowing everyone by name. He was quick with a joke and a kind word to put others at ease with his eyes shining bright with his extreme intelligence. He was a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, St John’s Episcopal Church in Olney and the Sons of the American Revolution. He was a founding member and President of Clan Shaw Society, a Scottish ancestry organization.

He is survived by 4 sons, Noel Leslie of Vail AZ, Peter Lambdin of Hana Maui HI, John Andrew of Royal Oak MD, and Meredith Linwood of Rockville MD; 4 daughters, Mary Loretta of Phoenix AZ, Bridget Anne Smith of NC, Melissa Katherine Spitzer of Shiremanstown PA, and Clara Patricia Navarro of Haiku Maui HI; 9 grandchildren, Mason Lowell Shaw, Hadley Ann Forst, Lucas Ciapetta, Mary Catherine Shaw, Caleb Spitzer, Nikaline Iacono, Kaleb Mattox, Joaquin Navarro, and Luca Mosquera; 4 great grandchildren; a nephew and 6 nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents; 2 brothers, Lambdin Lyle and Leslie Claggett; and 2 sisters, Jaqueline Elaine and Lorraine Mildred Lowman.

Family will receive friends on Saturday, August 29 from 10:30AM-12:30PM at the Sterling-Ashton-Schwab-Witzke Funeral Home of Catonsville, Inc., 1630 Edmondson Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228; where a funeral service will follow at 12:30PM. Interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.