Bill Eugene Shaw

Bill was born March 12th 1929 in Sequim, Wa, a little town perfectly situated between the mountains and the sea. His mother was a school teacher and his father a forest ranger. His childhood consisted of going to school, wrestling with his brothers, and working hard on the family farm. His father's job included trail maintenance and fighting fires. Summers were spent fishing, hunting and helping run pack burros for trail repair and for tourists. He graduated from high school in 1947, worked for awhile for an uncle in California then came home to help support the family on the farm. In April of 1949, he married the red headed Ellen Gilbertson of the neighboring town of Port Angeles. He claimed she had stolen him from his original date, her cousin. They moved to town and he went to work at the lumber mill as a machinist. In 1952, he joined the Army as a field Sergeant. He instructed soldiers in small arms and fought in the Korean war. Years later, he would tell his tender hearted daughter that his war action consisted of ""shooting at some bushes. When he came home, they had their first child, a daughter, Denise. Then he moved with his married brothers to Provo, Utah, to attend BYU. When he told the story, apparently Ellen supported the whole family with her tips from the steakhouse. He graduated from BYU with his degree in Petroleum Engineering. He went to work for Pan American Oil and moved his young family to Canada, then Alaska. In 1960 his son Michael was born. He hosted both his father and father in-law on several hunting trips using a river boat he built in his garage. A great hunter, he brought home caribou, doll sheep, and mountain goat, most with huge racks. His wife made moose stew, moose roast, moose sausage and even moose mince meat. In 1963, his daughter Leslie was born and in 1964 the family survived the third largest earth quake ever recorded, the Good Friday earth quake. Bill's office was completely destroyed but because of the holiday, most offices and schools were empty. The house had minimal damage and they hosted displaced friends for many weeks. In 1966 Pan American Oil, now Amoco, moved the family, along with many of Bill's colleagues to Denver. He warned his kids ""there's not a lot of trees there"", but the family learned to love it. They suffered a tragedy, losing a new baby daughter, Julie, who died of a heart defect at just a few months old. In 1971, he was offered a position in the overseas department of the company and Ellen says ""let's go for it."" For the next few years, Bill's family enjoyed living in Norway and England. Bill took them skiing in Austria and, as an amateur archeologist, he took them to castles, walls and baths in England, in between helping develop the oil finds in the North Sea. In the late 1970's, the family returned to Denver. There are graduations, weddings, and grandchildren and Bill retires at 55. After a short stint as a consultant, Bill concentrates on gardening, hunting and remodeling their cabin in South Park. He and Ellen enjoyed a well earned retirement, riding ATV's, traveling and mentoring grandchildren. The unexpected death of Ellen, three years ago, broke his heart, but he didn't give up, and continued to stay active, socializing with friends and experimenting with cooking. Medical complications from an operation led to his death on September 27th, 2008. His family and friends are here to mourn him, and celebrate his amazing life.