Thomas Leonard Shaw

Dec. 11, 1928 - Dec. 23, 2017

Heaven gained an angel with the passing of “Father Tom”, as his family called him, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

He was born in Portland, Oregon and was an outstanding student athlete excelling in school, both scholastically and athletically. That passion for sports combined with his leadership led him to a scholarship at Stanford University where he played quarterback and also baseball. He completed his undergraduate degree at Stanford and also received an MBA.

After college he served in the Air Force where he was, among other things, a football coach. He met the love of his life, Barbara, in San Francisco and together they had three children. They lived in San Rafael, California for most of their 60 years together, only recently relocating to Los Gatos.

Tom was a Human Resource Executive and spent over 30 years with Crown Zellerbach. Tom was as passionate about people as he was sports, always there to mentor both inside and outside of work. Tom continued to excel at sports as an avid tennis player and golfer.

Tom is survived by his wife Barbara, sons Bill and Steve Shaw (Aubrey), and daughter Betsy Rafael (Steve) and 4 grandchildren (Ryan, Nick, Shelby and Kody).

All those that knew Tom, understood that he was truly a unique person that made the world a better place. His presence will be greatly missed.

Services will take place on Friday December 29th, 2017 at St. Mary’s in Los Gatos, 219 Bean Avenue, Los Gatos at 11:00am.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association.