William Robert Shaw's Obituary
William Robert (Bob) Shaw Resident of Menlo Park, CABob Shaw passed away on December 2, 2015 after a courageous struggles with lung cancer and advanced Parkinson’s disease. His family was at his side during his final days at the VA Hospital Hospice unit in Palo Alto.Bob was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. His parents were William Sidney Shaw and Pearl Hennessy. Following graduation from Franklin High School, Bob enlisted in the Army and served in the Panama Canal Zone with discharge in 1948. He then used the GI Bill to attend the Restaurant institute of Connecticut in New Haven (this later became the Culinary Institute of America). He then attended Boise Jr. College and then the University of San Francisco. During this time he worked in many of San Francisco’s renowned restaurants to help with college expenses. He always had fun stories to tell about that time in his life.Bob met Vera Adams while in San Francisco. They married in 1955, until her untimely death in 1986, and had two children, Teresa and Steve. Bob continued to work in the restaurant business until 1959 when he signed on with Saga Food Service. He worked as a unit manager, district manager, western director, and ultimately did much of the purchasing nationwide for their college and hospital divisions. This was his life’s work for 35 years until Saga was sold in 1987. At that time, Bob went to work for Stanford University as a senior purchasing manager. He retired from Stanford in 1997.In 1992, Bob married Kathie Vanoncini. The two enjoyed travel at home and abroad and shared wonderful times with close friends and family. Paris was their favorite European destination.Bob is survived by his wife Kathie, his daughter Teresa Crisp, sin-in-law Rick Crisp and his grand-daughter Juliann Crisp, son Steve Shaw, and daughter-in-law Debby Shaw. He is also survived by his step-children Dave Vanoncini (Tracy, Jill Vanonvini (Dan Greenblatt), and John Vanoncini (Katie_; his step-grandchildren Emma, Jason, Justin, and Jack Vanoncini; and his step-mother, Eilene Shaw. He is predeceased by his wife, Vera, his parents and his brother Burt and sister Rosemary.In a bio that Bob wrote for himself in 2005, he says, “Probably if my life had to be defined by one word, it would be WORK. However, I played a lot also, at lease enough that my life, in retrospect, seemed to be balanced.”Bob will always be remembered as a loving family man with high ethical and moral values.A mass in Celebration of Bob’s life is on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at St.Denis Catholic Church, Menlo Park at 10am with reception to follow at Quandras Cafe, Menlo Park. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.We would like to thank all of our family and friends whom have shown us sympathy and support. With sincere gratitude, the Shaw Family.
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