Lasting Memories

Mary Wright Shaw
March 9, 1919-Nov. 30, 1212
Palo Alto, California

Mary Wright Shaw passed away peacefully on Nov. 30, 2012, at the age of 93.

Born in 1919 to Thomas and Anna Wright, Mary Alberta Wright grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania, on the shores of the Allegheny River -- a source of reflection and inspiration throughout her life -- with brothers Thomas Jr. and John David, and her sister Virginia. Her father died when she was 4-years-old, and her mother later remarried to Carl Hultberg ("Cully"), a WWI veteran and loving stepfather who helped provide for the children amidst the economic deprivation of the Great Depression. An intelligent and exuberant youth, Mary excelled both as a student and athlete. She would recall with great fondness playing alongside her older sister as starting guards on their high school basketball team -- Virginia was the scorer, Mary was the ball-handler and tenacious defender.

Following in the footsteps of her stern, yet compassionate mother, Mary studied nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital and then Public Health at Simmons College, receiving her R.N. and Public Health Certificate in the early 1940s. She served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corp from 1944 to 1946. She met her husband, Norman Shaw, at San Francisco's Presidio Hospital where he was recovering from a war injury suffered in WWII's Battle of the Bulge. They first met during an outing for patients and nurses at a 49ers game in old Kezar Stadium. Norman was a San Francisco native and they both loved The City. On occasion, Mary would affectionately chide Norman, a U.S. Army sergeant, that she outranked him. Mary recalled climbing the chilly concrete stairs together at San Francisco's Legion of Honor in the Fall of 1946, sharing their deepest thoughts and secrets. They fell in love and were married three months later.

They both enrolled at Stanford on the G.I. Bill and soon started what Mary described as the couple's "10-year production period," during which their daughter and four sons were born. Mary put her education on hold to become a full-time mom, while Norman graduated from Stanford in engineering and embarked on his professional career that took the family to Pittsburgh and then Los Angeles.

In 1960, Norman died suddenly of a heart attack on the day after Christmas. Mary moved the family back to Palo Alto where she took on the dual responsibilities of mother and breadwinner for her family of five children. In 1961, she took a job as the school nurse for Mountain View High School, which was the beginning of her long and distinguished career in public health and education. In 1968, she began to serve on the Mental Health Commission of Santa Clara, and later joined the boards of Social Advocates and the Red Cross. In 1971, she was promoted to Director of Health Services for the Mountain View/Los Altos School District. In 1972, she returned to Stanford to earn her bachelor's degree in psychology, 20 years after her original classmates had graduated.

Mary lived life with passion. She had an amazing sense of humor, an uncanny ability to find humor in the unending ironies of life, even in times of great personal challenge. Thus laughter permeated the Shaw household and family get-togethers throughout the years. "Perseverance" was her watchword. She never stopped caring for those in need and she never stopped learning. She was passionate about golf, became a regular fixture in the Stanford Golf Clubs Ladies Group and played into her 80s.

In 1991, Mary spearheaded the launch of YES Reading at the Belle Haven Library as a project of Youth Empowering Systems, Inc. Under her spirited leadership, the reading program achieved an exceptional success rate and continued to grow in reach, funding support and social impact. The organization, whose name was changed to Reading Partners in 2008, has continued to prosper and now serves more than 5,000 students across the country.

In addition to being a powerful advocate for public health and literacy, Mary was an extraordinary lifelong writer. In 1997, she published her autobiographical book, "Go with the River," under Gander Publishing, which she founded with her sister years earlier. Mary's book draws upon her personal journals to share life stories shaped by love, tragedy and -- above all -- by an amazing inner strength and personal resilience. As testimony to her many outstanding career achievements and community contributions, Mary was honored with the Palo Alto Weekly's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

She generously passed along her loving wisdom for the written word to her all whose lives she touched, from family and friends to the countless participants in the health and education programs that she championed. She was a devoted mentor to her grandchildren, instilling in them a fondness for literature, the importance of caring for others and -- most of all -- a love of life.

Mary is loved and will be deeply missed by her family: daughter, Mary; four sons, Norman, Peter, George and John; grandchildren, Siena, Yvonna, Angela, Wyatt, Genevieve, Anna, Monica and Andrea; son-in-law, Rick; and daughters-in-law, Donna and Julie. There will be a family memorial service to celebrate Mary's extraordinary life and she will be placed next to her husband Norman at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto. Mary was devoted to Reading Partners, the literacy outreach program for children that she co-founded, and she would gratefully smile upon any memorial donations to its life-enhancing mission (www.readingpartners.org).