Obituary: Shaw, Esther Anne (Tennant)

SHAW,
Esther Anne (Tennant)
(1915-2012)

Esther Anne (Tennant) Shaw, 96, a longtime Pullman resident and recently of Seattle, WA passed away on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 at The Kenney Retirement Center in Seattle, WA.
Born to Mildred and Mark Tennant on October 15, 1915 in Sioux City, Iowa, Esther Anne was the elder of their two daughters.

The family moved to Florida in the 1920’s where Esther Anne graduated from Miami High School in 1933.

She went to Ohio Wesleyan College, where she met Charles Gardner Shaw and married him in 1940.

Esther Anne received her Bachelor of Arts in 1937 from Ohio Wesleyan and then began graduate studies at Duke University, earning a degree in Medical Technology.

In 1947, Esther Anne arrived in Pullman, WA with her husband Gardner, supposedly ‘for a few years’ as he worked in the Plant Pathology Dept.

at, then, WSC.

The years passed quickly for this faculty wife as she raised three children (Sherry, Terry, and Mark, all of whom attended WSU before going on to advanced degrees and public service careers themselves), while remaining very active with the United Church of Christ, where she became the first Washington woman Synod director in the early 1960s.

Esther Anne’s busy social life included membership in Chi Omega, PEO, AAUW, Welfare League, and WSU Retirees.

Among her hobbies were painting (ceramics and watercolors), reading (member of two book groups), and collecting mushroom and penguin ornaments.

In later years, Esther Anne joined her husband for lengthy research assignments in Jordan, developing a lasting love of the Middle East and adding many middle eastern art objects to her growing collections.
In 2005, with health concerns mounting and after living 58 years in Pullman, Esther Anne moved to Seattle, into an assisted living facility (The Kenney), and made many new friends there.
Esther Anne’s three children, nine grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren (with a 10th pending) survive her, along with her sister, Judith.

Husband Gardner passed away in 1998.

Esther Anne’s first grandson, Sean Taber, also preceded her in death, in 1972.
A memorial service will be held at Pullman’s Community Congregational United Church of Christ on Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 1pm.

Private graveside services will be held at the Pullman Cemetery.

Kimball Funeral Home of Pullman, WA is caring for the family.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Esther Anne’s memory may be made to the United Church of Christ, Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO), or the American Association of University Women (AAUW), in care of KIMBALL FUNERAL HOME, PO Box 323, Pullman, WA 99163.

Online condolences may be sent to www.kimballfh.com