Amy W. Shaw

 Our dear, sweet Amy arrived early into our world at 29 weeks, 3 pounds, 5 ounces! at Magee Hospital in Pittsburgh. When her brother, Jeremy aged 3 ½ saw her in the incubator, he said “things on baby want them off.” She did well in the NICU and came back to Battle Creek a month before her due date and was given a beautiful quilt hand sewn by my good friends. Amy thrived and was always active wanting to try everything. She wore a tutu everywhere and wanted to do ballet when she was four but didn’t want to go into the room so we left and she danced at home. She loved swimming, was always creating cups with cherries on that she painted. She stenciled her room. She mixed up all sorts of concoctions from the kitchen cabinets. 

She loved her brother, Jeremy and followed him to Fremont Elementary School where her first grade teacher said she did perfect work but could she do it a little faster! She and her mother attended a presentation on girls going into math and science and the lady talked about finding their passion and Amy seemed worried when she said, “I don’t know what my passion is.” When she was five years old she wanted to bring peace to the Middle East. Amy was always curious. 

Amy then went on to WK Kellogg Junior High and in 9th grade she was in band and asked by an upperclassman to run and get him a drink and in her enthusiasm, she ran across the street and a car ran over her right foot and she gained the nickname “Speed Bump.” She later tested into attending the Math and Science Center and stayed for two years and discovered it was not for her. 

Meanwhile Amy was starting to love theatre and was involved in many small roles from fourth grade on and then was chosen to be Alice in Alice in Wonderland. She was also in a production of How to Succeed at Kellogg Community College in eighth grade. She also participated in the old Discovery Theatre downtown. 

After completing high school, Amy spread her wings and moved to Pittsburgh to stay with a family friend and she worked in the big old Kaufmann’s Department store downtown and took classes at Allegheny Community College. She returned to Battle Creek and attended the CENA training at Kellogg Community College and used her license to work at a couple of nursing homes. Her interest in gerontology took hold and she was a behavioral health worker at Fieldstone Center on the geriatric unit. Amy showed a tenderness and compassion with the patients and also a sense of humor. 

Spreading her wings again, Amy moved to East Lansing and took her required classes to be able to transfer to Central Michigan University where she discovered an interest in applied behavioral analysis and worked in the Autism Center under the guidance of Dr. Seth Whiting who inspired her and made her laugh. Amy graduated in December 2019 with a BS in Psychology. 

Amy wanted to study Applied Behaviors Analysis in graduate school and was excited to be admitted to Western Michigan University to work with Dr. Jonathan Baker whose specialty is gerontology. She loved working with him and how natural he was as a teacher. Amy moved from Mount Pleasant to Kalamazoo during covid and was lonely until she started making many good friends over the years. She was a nontraditional student and was pleased that her younger peers included her. To quote Dr. Baker, “she has a passion for working with older adults and planned to go into academia to conduct research and train future practitioners/researchers.” She was recognized for her presentation at ABAI with the student presenter award from the Behavioral Gerontology Special Interest Group. 

As Amy’s mother, I watched her grow in confidence and acceptance of herself. She worked through some struggles in her life and allowed others to be themselves. When Deborah would doubt herself Amy would say “you need to see yourself as others see you.” Sometimes Deb would repeat that back to her. Amy shared politics with her brother Jeremy. She held a student pilot certificate. She enjoyed flying lessons with her father in his 1946 Champ airplane. As we all struggle through losing her, we have to tell ourselves that she was doing what she loved to do with James, the man she loved. 

Amy is survived by her father, Glenn Alfred Shaw; her brother, Jeremy Whitten Shaw; her mother, Deb Whitten and her partner, James Morden. She leaves behind in California, Aunt Molly, cousins, Rich and Del. Uncle Dick and cousin Todd predeceased her. In Colorado are Uncle Tom, Aunt Ronna, cousins Eric, Brian and Mark. Uncle Peter is in Maryland and cousin Ted in Connecticut. On her father’s side are cousins Rena and Lora. Maternal grandmother Mildred Whitten was 84 when Amy was born and died when Amy was ten and Amy wrote her a note “you are going to a better place” and slipped a Hershey bar into the casket! Maternal grandfather Thomas E. Whitten and paternal grandparents Virginia and Ray Shaw predeceased her. She also leaves behind a dear family friend Linda in Pittsburgh and beloved friend Terry. Amy was a proud cat lady and leaves behind her two cats, Wynne and Gabby.

A memorial service to celebrate Amy’s life will be 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at the Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation Care. Visitation will be two hours prior to the service, starting at 1:00 p.m. Personal messages for the family may be placed at www.farlyestesdowdle.com. 

A livestream of the service will be available at the following link:  https://vimeo.com/event/4520791

The family has created a beautiful slideshow of memories and it may be viewed at https://vimeo.com/1000603848/b5a5f055e3.