Mr. Donald R. Shaw passed from earth to heaven* on January 2, 2011. He died in his sister's home in Malvern after a battle with pancreatic cancer; during those months, he was extraordinarily brave and never complained. He was 57. Born in Baltimore, MD, he was the son of Leslie F. and Priscilla B. (Hemmesch) Shaw. Mr. Shaw worked in the food services industry and is survived by his mother, Priscilla; his brothers, Chuck and Scott; and his sister, Barbara. He will be missed by many loving family members. Services will be private. Arrangements are by The Oliver H. Bair Co. (610) 449-8585. *** Don's journey to heaven is perhaps best described in "The Parable of the Lost Chicken" - a chicken that Don helped us raise. (shared by Barbara Shaw Schlesinger) To begin at the beginning: Don kindly came to our home last March to house-sit and take care of our various critters while Ralph and I visited his sister in NM. Our menagerie then included the day-old chicks that had just arrived. Don managed everything with great care and reported to us upon our return that there was one "odd" chick among the bunch. While all the others would scurry away and hide whenever the cage was opened, a little Speckled Sussex would come right to the door, look up at your face and say, "Hey, What's up?" This was very cute, indeed; but as an adult, this behavior became problematic as Speckle would see me come out our back gate, fly over the coop's electric fence, and run right over to me. No amount of lecturing about hawks and foxes had any salutary effect on her behavior. So it was, on one of the bitter-cold nights before Christmas, that I went out to the coop to shut the hens in against the cold. Counting them, I saw one was missing, and it was Speckle. (I had already rescued her earlier that day from circling hawks when she was out-and-about.) I was sure she had been nabbed after a second escape; but I decided nevertheless to give a look round. Though in the daytime she would come upon call or sight of me, now that it was dark and she was in roost-mode, I knew that she probably would not respond to my voice. I'd have to find her in the beam of the flashlight. Searching in trees, under bushes, beyond boulders, circling round and round and hoping so dearly to find her, the thought struck me that if I could do this for a chicken, surely the Good Shepherd does this for His lost sheep; and I thought of brother Don. Finally, with freezing hands and feet, and needing to get back inside to be with Don, I gave a last turn with the flashlight. There I saw in the freezing dark, perched on a rock like chicken-on-a-platter, was our dear Speckle - cold, forlorn, alone, and ripe for danger. It didn't matter that she was just a few feet from her haven of safety or that her rescuer had been calling out to her. Even when she saw me, she just sat there and didn't move while I walked up to her and picked her up and (yes) embraced her. She was found! I happily returned her to the warmth and safety of her henhouse. I was amazed at how I rejoiced over finding this hen! Suddenly the Parable of the Lost Sheep welled up in my memory, and the sight of that forlorn chicken sitting alone in the dark reminded me of Don. Though he had long believed in God, he continued to hold tightly onto control of his life, and he had not received that "light and life" that is only given by Jesus as Lord. It all was so similar. Don was spiritually alone and in the dark, so ripe for imminent danger for all eternity. How he needed a Good Shepherd to seek him out, and finding him, put him on His shoulders and carry him to safety. I knew my Lord Jesus was impressing all this upon me to give me hope, that though Don continued to resist God's calls for health and safety for all eternity, Jesus was able to seek and find and rescue my brother, just as I had my hen. How timely it was that a friend had just called me to encourage me to "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." (Romans 12:12) So, I was joyful in hope and expectation. On the morning of Don's last day, after I shared with him that if he asked God's forgiveness and called Jesus "Lord", Jesus would take him to heaven, Don responded with his own characteristic words: "It's a deal!". Afterwards, there were tears rolling down Don's cheeks when I was speaking of God's love for him and His compassion and precious gift through Jesus. Those were Don's last words and his last tears, for there are no tears in heaven. Thank You, Lord! (and thanks to so very many who upheld him in prayer) The Parable of the Lost Sheep - Luke 15:1-7 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - - - - - P.S. Speckle's wings were clipped the next day.