William “Bill” Shaw, 79, of Ogden, Utah, passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 21st surrounded by family. He was defined by the things he loved and the values he passed on to his children: a deep love of nature, an understanding of our role as stewards of this earth and the other than human creatures on it, and the respect and open-minded acceptance of the humans we share this world with. He observed many things that others often ignored and it contributed to his kindness, maybe was even the basis for it.

Born and raised in the Irish-Catholic neighborhood of Dorchester in Boston, Bill was an avid fan of his hometown sports teams, the Red Sox, Patriots, and Bruins. He grew up surrounded by strong women: his Irish-speaking Nana Mahoney told him stories he understood through a language barrier, Nana Griffin cooked him German food he could still smell into adulthood, and his mother, Mary, and sisters, Maureen and Judy, taught him love and respect.

While he had the street smarts of a city kid, Bill preferred the time he spent in the woods of New Hampshire, and his desire to see more than what the city could offer led him to join the United States Air Force at the age of eighteen. Bill was a decorated veteran, serving for thirty years (from 1966 to 1996) and achieving the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. After basic training and technical school, Bill was assigned to the Strategic Air Command at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, where met his beloved wife of 57 years, Bonnie. His military service subsequently sent him and his family around the world on assignments in Germany, Oklahoma, and finally to Hill Air Force Base in Utah, where they remained after his retirement. Bill also served on special missions and temporary tours to places as far flung as Okinawa, Japan, where he provided ground support for U.S. troops in Vietnam.

Bill was always thirsty for knowledge, and in many ways, he was a self-didact. Not having access to traditional post-secondary education, he decided to attend night school while working full time and raising a family. In school his most meaningful classes were in Psychology and Business, increasing his already well-honed people skills and natural empathy and giving him the business acumen to run his family economy successfully. He shared a love of learning and reading with Bonnie, a passion they instilled in their children and grandchildren. Their home was always full of healthy debate. To outsiders it may have seemed like arguing or chaos, but the Shaws love to see all the angles and get to the bottom of the issues, and sometimes yelling is involved. But Bill insisted on empathy and working past judgement, even when he jumped to a conclusion: when he was introduced to the human element of the other side, he worked to understand it.

After retirement, Bill could usually be found fly fishing in a mountain stream or lake, out-driving the rest of his foursome on the golf course, hunting for morel mushrooms in the woods with his wife and children, meticulously caring for his home and garden, or cooking dinner. Initially, he specialized in just a few things: spaghetti, steamed vegetables (including a fascinating combo of carrots and raisins), and kielbasa. But over the years his culinary expertise grew as did his adventures in food. He loved homemade pizza loaded with vegetables (though he never ate the

crust), creating sprawling charcuterie boards (before it was an Instagram trend) with a specialty he and Bonnie called bruschetta that featured tomatoes from their garden, and was always eager to try something new on vacation, particularly if prepared by a sushi chef.

Patience wasn’t one of his virtues, so he wasn’t always the best teacher, but we all sought to learn from him because he taught us so many important things: how to shoot a bow and arrow, how to plant a garden, how to spot wildlife and find mule deer horns, how to repair a bird house, how to swing a golf club. In Germany, nearly every weekend – rain or shine – was filled with Volksmarches, where he taught his children the value of a good walk and that he would always be there to help push them to the finish line. And he always managed to find the perfect piece of gear in the garage (or at a garage sale) for any task, no matter how large or small.

He is survived by his adventure-partner and loving wife, Bonnie, his children, Matt (& Carrie) Shaw, Wendy (& Dustin) Shaw/Cutlip, Danielle (& Maria) Whittle-Shaw, his grandchildren, Alex (& Dan), Malcolm, and Miles, and his sisters Judy Sullivan and Maureen Cushman.

Adventure was his ethos. Bill and Bonnie, together and independently, traveled the country and much of the world. They hiked, rafted, drove, canoed, skated, backpacked and meandered through four continents and while they have seen the whole country, they spent most of their domestic travels exploring every natural corner of the West.

You’ll still feel him lingering in the places that he loved and was loved by: the trees in his yard filled with the birds he admired; the mountaintops of the West that he climbed with Bonnie, Matt, Wendy, and Danielle; the craggy outlooks near the sea where he breathed the salt air; the windswept grasslands of the plains where he lived and traveled, delighting in the whistle of the wind and its movement in the grass.

In lieu of flowers, Bill requested that donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate