Courtney Ann Shaw

Courtney Ann Shaw PhD, a resident of Annapolis, MD, passed away on January 8, 2026, after a long battle with cancer. She was the daughter of Elizabeth J Penn Shaw Palmquist and Dr Darrel Thomas Shaw and was born in Hagerstown Maryland on February 10, 1946. She attended Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA and the University of Wisconsin Madison where she graduated in 1968. Later she attended Case Western Reserve University, Arizona State University and the University of Maryland where she obtained her Ph.D. For many years she was a reference librarian, ending her career as the Life Sciences Reference Librarian at the National History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

Since she obtained her P.D in Textiles from the University of Maryland, she gave numerous lectures on tapestries for the Smithsonian and other venues. She combined her skills and interest in animals, especially cats, to do what she really wanted to do - write children's books about cats. Her lifelong project was to complete a tome on the Nine Worthies, a medieval theme of great importance.

She is survived by three of her sisters Susan Shaw Palmer, Priscilla McKinney and Julia Shaw and one brother William Blair Shaw and fourteen nieces and nephews.

The memorial service will be held at University Christian Church 6800 Adelphi Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782 on Friday February 20, 2026, at 11am with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the charity of your choice in her memory.