Phyllis S. Shaw

Phyllis S. Shaw died peacefully on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017 at the Health Center in Kalispell, attended by her loving family and caregivers. She was born in Pueblo, Colorado, on March 22, 1929, the daughter of Florence Delliquadri Polito and Phillip Polito. Her father died in an automobile accident prior to her birth. Her mother later married John Lester Silvio, who adopted Phyllis.

She received her education in the public schools in Howard and Pueblo, Colorado. She was a graduate of the University of Colorado in 1950 with a bachelors (cum laude) in economics and political science. While at the University she was active in numerous campus activities and was selected for Mortar Board. She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi social sorority.

Soon after graduation she moved to Cody, Wyoming, where she met and married John Richard Shaw in 1951. They lived in Cody until 1991, when they moved to Whitefish.

Mrs. Shaw and her husband owned a motel in Cody for 35 years. They were also partners in The Cody Enterprise newspaper for several years.

Although she worked with several social and civic groups, her special interest was in libraries. She served on the board of Park County Library in Cody for several years. When she moved to Whitefish, she was a volunteer and board member of the Whitefish Library Association for some time.

She was a bridge enthusiast and a golfer. She and her husband enjoyed these games as a couple, and she continued to golf and play bridge after his death in 1992.

Mrs. Shaw was also preceded in death by her parents, Lester and Florence Silvio; several aunts and uncles; brother-in-law Charles Shaw; sister-in-law Margaret Shaw Coe; son-in-law Rodes Moran; and nephews Geoffrey Shaw and James Hayes.

Survivors include sons Robert L. and wife Jeanean Kirk of Phoenix, Arizona; Michael R. and wife Julie of San Diego, California; and daughter Anne Shaw Moran of Whitefish; grandchildren Daniel R. Shaw (Sabrina) of Eugene, Oregon, and Karrol Anne Shaw of Phoenix, Arizona; Tony Shaw, Maggie Shaw Baird (Jess), and Olivia Shaw of San Diego, California; great-grandchildren Alexa Nicole, Jackson, and Kennedy Baird of San Diego, California, and Nolan Robert Shaw (Eugene, Oregon); and sister-in-law, Ruth Kern of Red Lodge. Surviving nieces and nephews are Anne Hayes, Henry Coe (Kari), and Robert Coe (Angela) of Cody, Wyoming; Allan Kern, Lee Kern, and Katy Kern of Red Lodge, and Dick Kern of Fulton, Illinois; Greg Shaw, Ernie Shaw, and the family of Geoffrey Shaw, all of Arizona; and several grandnephews and grandnieces.

There will be a celebration of Mrs. Shaw’s life at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. In addition, Mrs. Shaw’s extended family will gather in Wyoming during the summer of 2018 for a ceremony at the family cabin near Yellowstone.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a charity of choice.