Ruth Esther Shaw

Ruth Esther Shaw passed away October 28, 2021, from late-stage Alzheimer’s, at home in her bed, surrounded by her loved ones.

This mother of ten was a beloved community activist, devout Christian, gardener, artist, clown, teller of stories, and lover of all children everywhere.

Attending church three times a week, Ruth taught Sunday School; led music service; played the piano, organ, accordion, and tambourine; all while lifting her voice to the gospel music she loved.

As an artist, she enjoyed chalks and watercolors; as a gardener, she took as much pleasure in pulling weeds as planting flowers. Toward the end, it was all her children could do to keep her from falling out of her wheelchair on neighborhood walks as she reached down to pluck any weeds in her path.

Ruth graduated from Ben Davis High School in 1952, a few months after marrying the love of her life, Darrell Shaw. She was a Tupperware lady and an Avon lady, and even today you can find Tupperware pieces in her kitchen that must be 50 years old and so many Avon collectibles on her plate rail you may wonder if she put all her earnings back into the products she sold!

When Ruth moved into St. Clair Place on the near eastside of Indianapolis in 1975, she was appalled to discover that she’d be raising her children in a neighborhood rife with crime and slum lords. She overcame her lifelong shyness to organize her neighbors to create a better, safer community. She joined NESCO (the Near East Side Community Organization), where she quickly became the vice-president, then the president, and finally the director; formed one of the first Crime Watch Block Clubs; championed the then-novel idea of community policing; organized neighborhood cleanups; and harassed then-Mayor Bill Hudnut so much to invest in neighborhoods that he figured it was better to have Ruth Shaw as a friend than an enemy so he invited her to serve on his GIPC Board (the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee), a position she held for seven years.

Just as Ruth was instrumental in stealing the Colts away from Baltimore in 1984, she was integral to bringing the Super Bowl to Indianapolis in 2012. She was selected by city leaders and Super Bowl planners to be one of the first people to ride the zipline at Super Bowl Village and gained momentary national fame for ziplining downtown at the age of 77. She was brave and amazing and screamed the whole way across!

Whether it was serving on the PTA or volunteering as room mother for her own children, or dressing as Mrs. Claus or Smiley the Clown to entertain other children, Ruth loved kids. Until her final hours on this Earth, even when she was mostly unconscious and unresponsive, if someone brought a child to see her, she would open her eyes and smile.

Ruth is preceded in death by her husband, Darrell M. Shaw; her parents, Reverend Eugene and Daisy Turner; her children, Joni Vandivier (Bob), Deana Shaw, and Michael Shaw; and her son-in-law, Doug Sprague. She is survived by her children, Debbie Lee (Larry), Dianna Evans (Greg), Denise Hungerford (Rick), Donna Riehl, Pamala Sprague (the late Doug), Michelle Melani, and David Shaw (Kristal); as well as 24 grandchildren, 46 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great grandchildren, and her beloved cat Buttons.

A visitation will be held on Monday, November 1, 2021, from 4:00–8:00 pm at Flanner Buchanan–Washington Park East, 10722 E. Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46229. A funeral service will be held the following day at 2:00 pm with visitation at 1:00 pm. The funeral can be live streamed here.