Helen M. Shaw

August 30, 1923 - March 11, 2022

On March 11, 2022, Helen Mary Shaw, age 98, joined her late, loving husband, Park Drew Shaw. She passed peacefully surrounded by family and caregivers at the Life Care Center in Punta Gorda, Florida. Helen was born August 30,1923 and raised in Toledo, Ohio where she was a member of Blessed Sacrament Church and a longtime employee at The Andersons. Helen is survived by her children, Patricia (John) Haley and Michael (Janis) Shaw; grandchildren, Robert (Kathy) Shaw, Michelle (Anthony) Riddell, Jennifer (O’Conner) Shaw, Park James (Norma) Shaw, Christine Haley Shipman, Scott (Ruth) Haley; Fifteen great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her grandson, Stephan Michael Shaw. Visitation will be held on Saturday, March 26th, 2022, at Ansberg-West Funeral Home, 3000 W. Sylvania Ave. in Toledo from 11am – 1pm, followed by a service performed by Helen’s nephew, Reverend William J.M. Kenny (Father Bill) from Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Las Vegas, Nevada. Burial will follow at Ottawa Hills Memorial Park Cemetery. Donations may be made to Tidewell Hospice, 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, Fla. 34283. A letter to Helen: Dear Mom (Grandma, Aunt Helen, Neighbor, Friend) We have gathered to say our goodbyes. God’s production line doesn’t have quality control. Who we become is left up to each of us, and we believe you were as near perfect as a person can be. Thank you for your patience, courage and unconditional love. And for pigs-in-the-blanket, blessed Thanksgiving dinners, hot Quacker Oats on cold winter mornings, magic and memorable Christmas Eves that were quiet, safe, warm and reassuring and for the chicken paprikash the way only you could make it. And thank you for teaching us many lessons to live by. For example, we are free to do whatever we like. We need only to face the consequences. The truth doesn’t stop being the truth just because you’re not looking at it. Conscience usually hurts when something feels too good. Things mean nothing. It’s not that they’re bad; it’s just that they’re nothing. You have only yourself and others. On earth people are all angels with one wing, able to fly only when we embrace each other. If you don’t have love, no matter what else you have, it will not be enough. To think you are part of God is not arrogant. To think you are anything else is arrogant. In closing, we promise that though you are gone you will never be forgotten. With lasting love and deep affection, we are Patricia Sue Haley, Michael Drew Shaw and all those whose lives you touched