Robert Shaw, Jr.

Robert “Bob” Shaw, Jr. died peacefully in Groton, Massachusetts, on June 27, 2025, just two days short of his 88th birthday.

The son of the late Esther (Macneir) Shaw and Robert Shaw, Sr., Bob was a one-of-a-kind character who spoke in a vernacular limited to a population of one (a winnebago was a “moose-of-a-hog,” his daughters were either “champions” or “chimpanzees,” doing poorly was “dogging it”). In his youth, Bob teased, tormented, and loved his younger sisters Deborah Stober and Ellen Young. His ebullient laugh and infectious sense of humor endeared him to many: Bob was a beloved friend to several life-long groups, from junior high in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, to college, to his church friends in Westford, and finally his chair-yoga crew at RiverCourt Residences in Groton.

An engineer, Bob loved building things, such as a fancy doll house, a swingset and slide for his grandchildren, and bookcases for his dream house in Groton. He built a good career for himself, too. After graduating second in his Mechanical Engineering major from Cornell University’s College of Engineering and receiving a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, he was hired by the Avco Corporation, where he helped build the heat shields for the Apollo 13 mission. For over 35 years, he worked for CR Bard, the maker of medical implements. For three years in the 1980s, Bob, as vice president of CR Bard, oversaw the entire construction of a factory in Puerto Rico from its inception to its completion.

Outside of his professional endeavors, Bob worked to build a better world through volunteerism. Each week, he cleared walking trails in Westford; he daily tracked his beloved birds in his backyard for Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. For the last two decades of his life, he actively served the First Parish Church on many committees and was treasurer for three years. For three decades before that, he spent countless hours volunteering for St. Mark’s Church, tending to the Memorial Garden, trimming trees, serving as Senior Warden, and various other positions, both official and unofficial. For many years, Bob made and served salad with others from St. Mark's each month for St. Paul’s Soup Kitchen in Lowell.

Going even further afield in his volunteerism, Bob would drive weekly to the Clarence R. Edwards Middle School in Charleston to help prepare the Chinese immigrant student body for the Science MCAS exam. He excitedly brought in nuts, bolts, and screwdrivers, so the students could truly understand both the tools and the concepts in the test questions.

However, the best thing that Bob built was a life with Elizabeth “Beth” (Needham) Shaw, whom he met on a blind date in 1964 when she was a young nurse at Mass General Hospital. In their later years, he and she enjoyed traveling from France to Finland, Alaska to Kenya. Bob was extremely proud of his three daughters. He supported the LGBTQ+ community, leading a PFLAG chapter in honor of Jordana and her wife Lisa Francine; during the peak of the pandemic, he and Rebecca met at Dunkin’s, he in his driver’s seat, she in her passenger seat, connecting in person during the free half-hour in her hybrid teaching schedule; with Jessica and her husband Joel Raha, he shared his love of Cornell, 40 years apart in their graduating classes. For any and all family gatherings, he would bake bountiful breakfasts for his six grandchildren. His love language was through acts of service, and his service shows how greatly he loved.

Bob Shaw’s Memorial Service will be on Saturday, August 9, 2025, at 10:00 am, at the First Parish Church, 48 Main Street, Westford, Massachusetts, with a light luncheon to follow.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to:

• St. Paul’s Soup Kitchen: https://stpaulssoupkitchen.org/

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/

• Greater Boston PFLAG: https://www.gbpflag.org/

• Or perform your own act of service.

Arrangements under the care of the Badger Funeral Home, 45 School St., Groton, MA. 978-486-3709, www.badgerfuneral.com.