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SHAW, Elizabeth (Orr) 1923-2014

ORR, KEAN, SHAW, PETERSON, BASSETT

Posted By: Connie Ellis (email)
Date: 2/16/2016 at 15:24:12

SOURCE: QUAD CITY TIMES, Davenport,Iowa daily newspaper, July 25, 2014
Contributor: Connie Ellis (not related)

Elizabeth "Betty" Orr Shaw, age 90,of Columbia, Maryland and a former longtime resident of Davenport, Iowa died July 23, 2014. Betty was born in 1923 to Harold T. "Pete" and Hazel (Kean) Orr in Monona, Iowa. She graduated from the Monona High School and graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She earned a master's degree in public administration at the University of Minnesota. It was at the University of Minnesota where she met Donald H. Shaw of Oelwein, Iowa. They married on August 16, 1946 and they immediately started attending the Iowa Law School in Iowa City, Iowa where they both earned their degrees. For several years they resided in Chicago, Illinois but moved to Davenport, Iowa where Donald became an executive with the Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric Company.

Elizabeth became the first woman to be elected as a state representative to the Iowa Legislature for Scott County in 1966. Her contemporaries said she was a distinguished legislator who demonstrated thoroughness, likability, and determination in her official duties. She served three terms in the House before being elected to the State Senate where she served until 1977. A trail blazer in her day, she not only was the first woman to be elected to the legislature from the county but also became the first woman to serve as the Scott County Attorney when she was appointed by the County Board of Supervisors, a position she held for several years. After leaving the county attorney's office she became a corporate attorney for Deere and Company until she and Donald moved to Maryland in 2004. Her political affiliation was as a Republican while her husband Donald was a Democrat.

Betty is survived by three children: Betsy (Alexander Shaw), Andrew (Martha Peterson) Shaw, and Anthony (Joann) Shaw; seven grandchildren, Sarah Shaw, Caroline (Joshua) Bassett, and Allison, Kathryn, Nathan, Emily, and Meredith Shaw; several nieces and nephews in addition to many dear friends. She will be missed by the many family and friends who loved her.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband Donald; a brother William F. Orr and a daughter-in-law, Julie Reynolds Shaw. A memorial service will be held at a later date with interment at Rock Island National Cemetery, Arsenal Island, Rock Island, Illinois.

NOTE: The obituary for Donald H. Shaw can be found on the IaGenWeb-Fayette County site (link below)

Donald Shaw obituary
 

Clayton Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen

 

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