(1944 - )
John Daniel (Dan) Shaw, was born January 5, 1944 in downtown Tipton at a doctor's office above the pool hall on North Main Street. Dan (this author) remembers going to kindergarten in a taxi with other neighborhood kids. This school was located next to the broom factory in the north east part of town. He walked to elementary school, First Ward, as did everyone except the country kids. The same was true of Jr. & Sr. High School. Even for lunch break, he walked back home to eat and then back again to finish the day. During track season he
had to add one more trip as the track team had to run to the park for practice and back again to the school afterwards before walking home again.
Dan enjoyed sports and played on the high school basketball, football, and track teams. He later graduated from Purdue University with an engineering degree and moved south with a Westinghouse project to build a new transformer plant in South Boston, Virginia. In 1976 Dan went back to school, part time, and graduated with a master's degree from George Washington University. About 2000, the Westinghouse facilty was purchased by ABB and Dan retired in 2003.
 Dan in Peuerto Rico while helping start up another Transformer plant. This was an opportunity to relax on the beach on the weekend. Not bad work! |
His first marriage was to Cheryll Ann Thompson in 1966 in Tipton. Two children were born of this union, Adian Kelly - September 15,1968 - and Ericka Christin - July 10, 1970. Dan remembers driving to South Boston for the first time in their move there in July of 1968. It was 105 degrees and pregnant Cheryll was very uncomfortable riding in a 1967 Mercury Cougar with no air conditioning. Being from the north it was not uncommon to consider air conditioning an unnecessary luxury. It was quite interesting to discover that South Boston, Virginia, was whithin 150 miles of the ancesteral home of Isaac in Surry County, North Carolina.
In 1975 Dan remarried and this time to Phyllis Hope Cassada Talbott. This marriage has turned out to be quite successful as it has lasted over 30 years at the time of this writing.
Phyllis' son Aylor Thomas Talbott, III, was the same age as Ericka and easily joined the expanding brood of children.
As he got a little older, Dan got interested in building a kit car, a replica of a SS100 Jaguar and then rebuilding his "71 olds he had originally bought in 1971.
What 'Poppy' enjoyed most was swinging the girls. These were Hannah, Becca, and Avery. All the grandchildren got involved in going through the woods to the 'beach'.
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