Harry F. Shaw, age 93, of Ijamsville MD, passed away Wednesday, February 19, 2020 in Newark, DE. Harry was born on March 24,1926 in Lowell, MA to Harry Shaw and Teresa (O’Haire) Shaw.
He was drafted to serve in World War II when he was 18 years old and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, with the 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Division. When he returned home, he attended Catholic University in Washington D.C. on the G.I. Bill, where he received his Electrical Engineering degree and met his wife, Louise, and many lifelong friends. He worked briefly for the Army and spent the rest of his career at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD where he was instrumental in developing remote sensing instruments for satellites. He worked on the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory program, which pioneered global land observations from space, and the Heat Capacity Mapping Mission which provided high-spatial-resolution thermal surveys of the surface of the earth.
His hobbies included photography and fly fishing. He loved traveling within the United States and especially loved the National Parks. Harry was an incredible craftsman who could fix anything and who never had enough power tools.
A date for a memorial service has not yet been set. He is survived by his three children, Barbara Harrison, Sarah Shaw and Michael Shaw, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to “Habitat for Humanity”.