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Donald V. Shaw
Oct 1934 Aug 2015
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Donald Villette “Don” Shaw, of Turlock, CA, passed away peacefully in his home on August 4, 2015, at the age of 80. Don was born in Los Angeles to Villette and Alice Erickson Shaw in 1934. He was the last surviving grandchild of John O. Erickson, one of Turlock’s founders. Alice died after giving birth, and Donald was raised by his father and stepmother Ruth in San Gabriel, California. He graduated from Alhambra High School in 1952, and attended Bob Jones College in South Carolina before transferring to Wheaton College in Illinois where he obtained a B.A. in 1956. 

Before his senior year of college, He married the love of his life, Anne Weathers, in 1955. He completed his formal education at UCLA, obtaining his MA in English and a teaching credential. 

Don landed his first teaching job at Thomas Downey High School in Modesto, CA, in 1962, and moved his growing family back to the town of his roots, Turlock, where his mother Alice was raised, and where his grandparents John and Anna Erickson had settled in the early 1900s.  

In 1972, he became one of the initial teachers at Fred C. Beyer High School, where he taught English until his retirement in 1993. He was a lifetime student of literature and religion. After retirement, he enjoyed traveling, music and reading.  For several years following his retirement he also contributed opinion pieces as a community columnist for the Modesto Bee.  

Donald is survived by 3 children Eric (Linda Lenards) Shaw of San Francisco, Jeffrey (Andrea Vernetti) Shaw of Alameda, and Suzanne Shaw-Quinton of Modesto, and eight grandchildren.  He is preceded in death by his wife in 2014, and son Lawrence Evan Shaw in 1982. 

Visitation will be on Thursday, August 13, 2015 from 5pm~7pm at Allen Mortuary.

Graveside Service will be on Friday, August 14, 2015 at 11am at Turlock Memorial Park.