Roll Call Tribute

Robert W. Shaw 

April 1, 1922 - February 25, 2022 

Robert W. Shaw, formerly of Coshocton, Ohio, died Feb. 25, 2022, in St. Petersburg, FL of natural causes. He was 99, two months shy of his 100th birthday.

Mr. Shaw was born in Fort Bliss, TX. The son of a career U.S. Army officer, he lived in several states and overseas as a child. One memorable assignment was in Fort Meade, S.D. where as a young boy he could ride his horse the 20 miles to watch the construction of Mount Rushmore.

He was at Texas A&M University when World War II broke out. His graduation was accelerated in 1943 when the War Department inducted all ROTC cadets into the Army. After training, he was assigned to the 177th Field Artillery Battalion and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, among other war assignments.

Before going overseas, Mr. Shaw had married the former Anne Fite and in 1946 was reunited in the states with her and their 1-year-old son, Robert C. Shaw, whom he had never seen. The couple later had a daughter, Lisa and a son, Graham. Mrs. Shaw died in 1985.

Mr. Shaw later married Hazel Chesnutt Seay Shaw of Clinton, NC, where the couple resided until she passed away in 2001. He is also survived by his step-daughter, Anne Potter of Asheboro, NC and her family.

Sometime afterward, Mr. Shaw reconnected with a former high school classmate, Joan Hartley Gross of Coshocton, OH, who was also widowed by that time. He moved to Coshocton, and the pair were together until her death in 2010.

Mr. Shaw was an engineer and worked for several major companies over his career, including ALCOA. After the death of his third wife, he retired to St. Petersburg, FL to live near his daughter, and siblings Douglas Shaw and Barbara Abbott.

Services will be private.