Martha Castlebury Shaw

Mrs. Martha Castlebury Shaw died September 10 at age 98 in the Tower Health and Rehabilitation Center in Raleigh, NC. She was predeceased by her husband, Reuben Albright Shaw, after sixty eight years of marriage, her brother Frank David Castlebury Jr. of Raleigh and her sister Henrietta (Ettie) C. Auman of Hillsborough, NC. Born and raised in Raleigh, Martha was the daughter of the late Frank David Castlebury, DDS and Muriel Victor Castlebury of Raleigh. She graduated from Meredith College in 1933 with a major in English. Later she earned a degree in Rural Sociology from North Carolina State University and did further graduate work in English at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Mrs. Shaw was a dedicated educator who brought her love of learning and her background in literature to teaching, first at Millbrook High School and later at Peace College and at St. Marys School. She and Reuben became active members of the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, which she had attended as a child. For years Mrs. Shaw volunteered in the Parent Teacher Association and the Family Service Association. Serving as docent at the NC Museum of Art was a delight to her. She was an accomplished bridge player, an enthusiastic bird watcher and a willing traveler, including tent camping trips to the NC shore and a longer trip to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. On another trip with her sister and mother, they returned to her mothers birth place in England, reinforcing her interests in family history and genealogy. Another enthusiasm included hospitality to international students at NC State and coworkers with Reuben Shaw at the NC State Highway Department. During her lifetime she lived with or recovered from numerous illnesses moving gracefully from energetic competence to appreciation for assistance. Her legacies include a love of literature and the use of exactly the correct word, her good health practices of a good diet and walking for miles and her extraordinarily strong will to persevere. Just as Mrs. Shaw frequently expressed, the family offers profound gratitude to the many kind helpers in her later years, especially daily sitter Awa Boye. Mrs. Shaw is survived by her loving daughter, Kay Shaw Kribs, of Morristown, New Jersey and her dear granddaughter Erin Kribs, of Ardencroft, Delaware, as well as a niece Catherine A. DeMaere, and nephews, Frank David and Fleming Castlebury, all of North Carolina. The memorial service will be Saturday morning, October 1 at the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, 99 N Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. The family will receive visitors starting at 10:00 with the Memorial Service at 11:00. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the First Baptist Church or to Meredith College, 3800 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27607-5298.