Harlan Crawford Shaw

On Wednesday, 8 June 2016, Harlan passed away peacefully at his home in Goleta, California. Born on 4 June 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, Harlan was 88 years old and the only child of the late Moses 'Mac' and Mae Shaw. Harlan grew up on the Southside of Chicago and with his parents was very involved with the Presbyterian Church and traveled for the church every summer. By the time he was a teenager, he had visited all 48 states at the time. During his childhood, he visited his aunts in Cleveland and played with 3 sisters from a neighboring family.  One of those girls was later to become his bride and wife of over 50 years, the late Katherine "Kitty" Teare Shaw. Harlan studied mathematics and music at Oberlin College but switched to physics and received his B.A. Degree in Physics with Honors in 1949.  He then became a Technical Assistant for Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago before deciding to head west to the University of California to work on his PhD under Herb York. He started his career while working at the University of California, Berkeley in the Radiation Laboratory and was involved in early experiments with the cyclotron.  While at Berkeley, Harlan looked up his childhood friend, Kitty, who'd also moved west to San Francisco to help open an office for World Book Encyclopedia. They started dating and got married on 31 January 1959, settling in Richmond, CA. Harlan continued his career working for Tracerlab as a nuclear physicist and later received his professional engineering license as a nuclear engineer for Pacific Gas and Electric and then Bechtel working on the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The family moved to El Sobrante and finally settled in Pinole where they lived for over 30 years. Harlan retired from his 40+ year career in 1993 and he and Kitty moved to Goleta in 2000 to be closer to their grandsons. Harlan loved music, astronomy, mathematics, and physics and most of all spending time with his family and relatives. Harlan was very involved as an amateur radio operator while a young man with the call sign K6IHW. Harlan was a Boy Scout as a youth and enjoyed sharing his love of the outdoors with his family spending time sailing and going for camping trips around the Western US.  Harlan was the beloved husband of the late Katherine Teare Shaw for 50 years; the devoted father of Mark T Shaw and Anne L Shaw-Hey; and the loving grandfather of Brian K Shaw, Kevin T Shaw and Charles C Hey. Family and friends were greeted at the home where Harlan passed away and a memorial service will be held in Denver, Colorado with the extended family. A special thanks to Patty Gonzalez and the caregivers of Santa Barbara Home Care and to Hospice of Santa Barbara. Donations can be made to Santa Barbara Home Care, 805-451-3040.