John H. Shaw, 89, took flight on Thursday, June 22nd with his family by his side. He was born January 27, 1934 in Perth, Ontario, Canada and moved to Brockville, Ontario in his youth where he enjoyed competing with teammates at the Brockville Rowing Club. His daughters remember him as goal-oriented and having a competitive spirit. He took great pride in his children and grandchildren and provided never ending love and support. His friends and neighbors describe him as a true gentleman. In 1955 John discovered his life’s passion. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) where he flew jets, Search & Rescue helicopters, and trained pilots. His father’s advice to him was to “fly low and slow”. He took a portion of this advice to heart when he allegedly flew under the Thousand Islands Bridge. During his time in the Air Force he met his other lifelong love, Anne Parker, on a blind date; they married in 1961. After the Air Force he worked as a private pilot for Irving Oil. John’s love for flying led them to Ireland where he flew for Aer Lingus and then to the United States where he had a successful 30 year career with American Airlines. A highlight of Captain Shaw’s career was flying soldiers home from serving in Operation Desert Storm. In 1994, mandatory retirement shifted John’s flying from commercial jets to single engine planes. He spent his retirement years formation flying at local celebrations such as the opening of Little League games as well as taking part in the missing man formation. He also volunteered for the Young Eagles program providing youth ages 8-17 their first free ride in an airplane to introduce and inspire children in the world of aviation.
John is predeceased by his parents, John and Ellen Shaw (Brockville, Ontario), his sister, Helen Marshall (Brockville, Ontario) and his brother,
William Shaw (Ottawa, Ontario). He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Anne Shaw of Keene, NH; daughter Janet Graf and husband Peter of New London, NH; daughter Heather Brady and partner David Goddard of Newbury, NH and daughter Ellen Shaw of Canaan, NH. In addition, he is survived by his grandchildren, Tyler and Silvia Graf, Nicholas and James Brady and Grace and Simon Goddard; his brother, Arthur Shaw (Regina, Saskatchewan), his sister-in-law Helen Shaw (Ottawa, Ontario) and multiple nieces and nephews (Canada).
A memorial service is scheduled for September 9th, 2023 at 11am at Kearsarge Community Presbyterian Church, New London, NH.
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to Guiding Eyes for the Blind (http://www.guidingeyes.org: 611 Granite Springs Road, Yorktown Heights NY 10598; phone: 800-942-0149) or Be The Match which supports life-saving bone marrow transplantation (http://www.bethematch.org; 500 North 5th Street, Minneapolis MN 55401; phone 800-507-5427).
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