Nell Shaw of Stonewall died Friday at the age of 90. She was cherished in her community, in rodeo, where her late husband, Everett, was a six-time world champion steer roper, in her family and among friends including longtime friend Reba Nell McEntire, shown on the cover of the book Shaw was holding in this 2006 photo. By Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
STONEWALL — After hearing that my longtime friend Nell Shaw of Stonewall had died the other day, I thought of a common line in obituaries: "Surviving family members include ...”
Why? Nell Shaw treated everyone like family.
So considering that, if you listed everyone who felt like they were part of her family, the list would be thicker than a best-selling novel.
She died Friday after a short illness at age 90. She lived on the land in Stonewall where she was born Sept. 3, 1917.
Services were Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in Stonewall.
Rodeo brought us together more than 15 years ago. Her late husband, Everett Shaw, was a six-time world champion steer roper. And rodeo remained a common thread between us. But the phone calls every now and then, the Christmas cards and the hugs made me feel more like I was a part of her family. I could be facing a deadline or having a bad day, and she would take my mind off all that with her grin and kind words.
In 2006, I wrote a column about her that said in part she "personifies Oklahomans' caring, hardworking ethic.”
She has a lot of outstanding "true” surviving family members, really good people who will keep her kindness and character alive, including sister Mary Durbin of Lindsay, daughter Mary Sue Worrell and her husband Sonny Worrell, who live near Altoona, Kan. She also had three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and many other relatives.
But in the article, I mentioned a family who, although not related by blood, might as well have been — the McEntires.
Many, many years ago, Nell babysat a child named Clark McEntire.
Her husband actually had traveled with Clark McEntire's father, John McEntire, the 1934 steer roping world champion.
As Clark grew up, he traveled some with Everett Shaw. Clark eventually went on to finish atop the world in steer roping in 1957, 1958 and 1961.
But the day I went to interview Shaw for the column about her, she insisted on making lunch. I didn't resist. When we got to dessert, the subject turned to lemon meringue pies — those with the big white toppings. She started laughing and telling me how Clark McEntire used to come in the house after roping with her husband and look at the pies, and he would always refer to the meringue as her "calf slobbering pie.”
Clark McEntire laughed at and verified that story on Tuesday.
Clark's wife, Jackie McEntire, told me how after having back surgery one time, she arrived home to find Shaw with a meal prepared. She said, "Nell is the type of person you want for a friend.”
Their children were all close to Shaw. One has a connection you may know about. Reba Nell McEntire was among those attending the services Tuesday in Stonewall.
When I contacted Reba in 2006 and asked her for a sentence or two about Nell, she wrote about 15 sentences starting with: "I've known Nell all my life. I'm so proud to be called her friend. She certainly has always been mine. Nell is a very loving and giving person. If anyone was sick, she was the first to take them food and help anyway she could.”
Reba mentioned how Nell and Everett Shaw would come watch her, Pake and Susie — the "Singing McEntires” — at various places including the Ken Lance Sports Arena in Ada.
On Tuesday, Pake McEntire, Susie McEntire Luchsinger and Reba McEntire sang four songs including "I'll Fly Away " and "The Old Rugged Cross” at the services of one of their greatest supporters — Nell Shaw.
Shaw
