Gonna post my father's Obit here. The short version
George Clyde Shaw was born in a tent on April 16, 1927 in the lamp-oil boomtown of Borger, Texas . Wanting to do his part in World War II, he dropped out of his freshman year at Live Oak High School to join the US Merchant Marine, sailing on both American and Norwegian Merchant vessels. After the war, he came home to finish high school, get married, start a family, and then began taking classes at Yuba College and Chico State University. In the early 60's, he became a History, Foreign Affairs, and Political Science Professor at Yuba College, where he taught for 25 years, became the Dean of Language Arts, and retired in 1990 as the Director of Human Resources. In the meantime, he had become an official in the California Teachers Association, and had run for the California State Assembly. While waiting ten years for his wife to retire, he was hired as a “Rent a Dean” to step in temporarily at colleges while a retired Dean, Personnel Director, or Contract Negotiator was being replaced. After moving to Clearlake in 1990, he joined the Clearlake Elks Lodge, became the Secretary, Exalted Ruler, California State Vice President, and District Deputy Exalted Ruler for his region of the state. After moving to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, he joined the Parksville Qualicum Elks Lodge as well as the Royal Canadian Legion. In 2022, he received a Gold Medal in Washington, DC for his service in WWII, and Norway's Ambassador to Canada came to the Qualicum Legion (and Elks Lodge) to give George the Norwegian Medal of Freedom in person. He passed away at Nanaimo General Hospital on January 22, 2024.