Pauline Joy Shaw

Pauline Joy (Meinecke) Shaw, age 96, passed away peacefully on February 18, 2017, in Dallas, Texas. Pauline, known to family and friends as Paula or Pauli, was born on March 21, 1920, as the middle child and only daughter of George and Elizabeth (Simmer) Meinecke. Aptly given the middle name Joy, Pauli brought “joy” to the home where she was raised with seven hard-working brothers near the small farming community of Jamaica, Iowa. She became an excellent cook, gardener and seamstress while working alongside her loving mother to meet the daily needs of a large family farm. Pauli often escaped farm life during stays with a favorite Aunt Effie in Des Moines, where the apparel stores and homes perhaps spurred her interest in fashion and interior design. In 1938, Pauli graduated in a class of twelve from Jamaica High School and soon began work in clothing sales in the nearby town of Perry, Iowa. Early in World War II, Pauli visited friends in Washington DC and decided to join the war effort in the nation’s capital. While employed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon, Pauli was selected as one of five persons responsible for preparing military personnel flash reports for the war department. The reports were issued from military bases throughout the world, including those where some of her brothers were stationed. Pauli was one of few women allowed in General Marshall’s Joint Chiefs of Staff conference room where all of the war plans were made. On February 19, 1945, Pauli was persuaded by her boss to go on a blind date with Richard E. (Dick) Shaw, a tall Army Air Force lieutenant who had just completed a tour of combat in Europe. Having flown 33 missions as a navigator on a B-17 “flying fortress,” the Pennsylvania native had received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. Like Pauli, Dick had seven brothers, as well as five sisters. After their romance grew under the cherry blossoms along the Potomac, Pauli and Dick were married on May 24, 1947. Pauli attended American University while Dick completed his degree in Civil Engineering at George Washington University. They welcomed a son Rick as Dick began his career with a DC engineering firm. During the war, Dick had been stationed in Texas and liked the people and climate. So in 1953, they moved the family to Dallas where a daughter Jann was later born. The Shaws made lifelong friends at Highland Park United Methodist Church and settled in the Lake Highlands area, building their first home in the “L” streets. They later built their third home near the high school as Dick managed the construction of quality commercial buildings, including banks (1st National, Mercantile, Republic), industrial sites (Texas Instruments, Otis Engineering, Electronic Data Systems), country clubs (Dallas Athletic Club, Tanglewood Hills), museums (Dallas Museum of Art), hospitals (Baylor-Roberts), airports, hotels, and schools throughout the DFW region, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston and Charlotte, NC. Pauli was a devoted mother, providing creative and educational activities for her children through church, scouting, travel and the arts. She was among the first members of Lake Highlands Women’s League established in 1969 and loved to serve as a hostess for the LHWL annual holiday home tour to benefit local scholarships and community projects. Pauli also gave of her time and talent in Dallas and the cities where she accompanied Dick on his projects, volunteering at the Dallas Arboretum and TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. While caring for her family, Pauli enjoyed a part-time sales career at various specialty clothing stores (Aline Tosch, Marsha Hohman) and the Dallas Apparel Mart. Friends and family admired Pauli’s sense of style and grace in all of her endeavors. Her beautiful home, garden and family remained her joy. For more than 60 years, Pauli and Dick supported the Lake Highlands community schools, Methodist church, Boy Scouts of America (Troop 731), 8th Air Force Historical Society, and the 381st Bomb Group Memorial Assn. In retirement, the Shaws enjoyed their grandchildren and travelled throughout the US, Japan and Europe, attending annual Air Force reunions and visits with their large loving families. More recently, with help of friends and the staff at Walnut Place healthcare community, Pauli shared precious time, memories and care with her beloved husband. The Shaws celebrated 68 years of marriage before Dick’s death in December 2015. The family is blessed to have been a part of such abiding love and will place Pauli’s ashes with Dick’s at the National Cemetery. We take comfort knowing they are reunited in Heaven remembering the lyrics of their song, “(I’ll Be Loving You) Always.” Pauli was also predeceased by her dear parents and aunt Effie Krepps of Seattle WA, and her seven wonderful Meinecke brothers: Elvin (Dutch) and his wife Mary, Melvin (Bud) and his wife Laverne, Ort and his wife Eleanor, George Jr., Darwin and his wife Sylvia, Carol and his wife Mary Ellen, and Calvin Meinecke. She had also shared in the loss of Dick’s siblings: Daryl, Robert, Earl Jr., and Leland Shaw, Laree Coates, Roberta Vaughan, Virginia Erway, Alice Scott, and Marilyn Lee. Pauli is survived by her son Richard E. (Rick) Shaw, Jr., of Dallas, Texas, her daughter Jann Shaw Bayliss and her husband, Russell Bayliss, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grandchildren, Elizabeth Bayliss and Christina Bayliss of Kansas City, Missouri, and Matt Bayliss of San Antonio, Texas; and, by her sisters-in-law Roberta (George Jr.) Meinecke of Jefferson IA, Margaret (Calvin) Meinecke of Perry IA, Margaret (Earl) Shaw of Damascus MD, and brothers-in-law, Byron and his wife Barbara Shaw of Painted Post NY, Harold Shaw of Mansfield PA, Gayle and his wife Barbara Shaw of Elmira NY, many beloved Meinecke and Shaw nieces and nephews, and dear friends. A memorial service in honor of Pauline Meinecke Shaw is scheduled at 11:00am on March 10, 2017, at the DFW National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, Dallas TX 75211. Please arrive in Lane C by 10:45am to join the procession. A reception will follow at 12:15 pm at Walnut Place, 5515 Glen Lakes Drive, Dallas TX. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests that gifts be made in memory of Pauline Shaw to the Lake Highlands Women’s League at www.LHWL.org (Support Us) or to a charity of your choice.