Herewith the eulogy - memorial service for the last three Shaws, Gladys, Willie and Cree was in October 2001 at St. Mary’s in Fulford.

Thank you for coming today to celebrate the lives of WILLIE, GLADYS and CREE, long lives, all over 90 years, with Gladys and Cree living to be 94 and Willie to the ripe old age of 98. They spent 62 years right here in the Fulford Valley on their farm adjacent to this church.

In remembering these three we must also, of course, remember their older sister, BETTY DRUMMOND who died in 1988 aged 87.

The Shaw parents were John James Shaw and Mary Kier McDwich . John was apprenticed at the Fairfield Shipyards in Glasgow where he trained to be an engineer architect. He continued to work in Scotland for a number of years before venturing to Nagasaki, Japan, to work for a firm of shipbuilders. At the time that the job in Japan came up he was engaged to be married to Mary and I believe the wedding date was actually set. After discussions it was decided that John would sail to Japan and when he was settled he would send for Mary. In due course Mary journeyed to Japan and the arrangement was that they would be married the day that the ship docked, but the ship was late arriving and, as marriages couldn't be performed after 12 noon, some friends took Mary to their home and the ceremony was performed the next day, January 30, 1901.

The family soon came along, Betty in October of that same year, Willie in January 1903, Gladys in October, 1904, Cree in May 1907, and the children’s first years were spent in Japan.

When John Shaw was planning to return to Scotland, his eldest sister, Effie, was living in Duncan, on Vancouver Island, and she suggested that rather than sail to Scotland they travel via Canada and visit with her family en route. When the family boarded the ship in Japan Betty had a bad cough but she was told that she wasn't to cough in case they weren't allowed on board. By the time the family arrived in Victoria on April 1, 1908, all four children who were under the age of 7, were sick with whooping cough. Can you imagine that journey? It must have been a nightmare.

They rented a house in Victoria and apparently John travelled around Vancouver Island quite a bit even going fishing as far north as Campbell River. He was out in a boat one day which went aground on Salt Spring Island. John fell in love with the island because it reminded him of Scotland. Although he knew nothing about farming he decided to purchase the farm at Fulford and the family moved in on January 1, 1909.

This was a total change of lifestyle. They had to learn how to care for the animals that were already on the farm, what to grow and when to harvest, and also how to butcher livestock. Obviously mistakes were made as they learned farming through hard work and hands on experience. The children were soon pressed into service to help with the chores. As they got older they assumed more and more ofthe farm work and although they had elementary education they missed a many days when ploughing, planting and harvesting took precedence. Money was short and the work was hard as it was for all the pioneering families.

Gladys gradually took over more of the work around the house and was a competent cook She was the backbone of the family and a good businesswoman. Willie did the heavier farm work and Cree tended the garden and the chicken.

In 1931 John Shaw was asked if he could deliver milk from the farm; he said he could deliver milk every day and as much as was wanted. That was the start of the Shaw Dairy. Willie drove the truck and sold not only milk and wonderful cream but also fruit and vegetables in season and even fresh meat. The dairy was very successful and ran for 33 years until 1964. I think this letter puts it well;

Dated October 27,1964

Dear Gladys and Cree and Willie,

For the past seven years or so we have been receiving milk from you with unfailing regularity I doubt if in all that time it has ever once failed to arrived at the due time and we find it hard to believe that on October 31 ^ that service will come to an end.

And it is not only the milk service that we shall remember with gratitude, but perhaps even more we shall remember the innumerable kindnesses even to bringing water to us during that dry summer when we first came down here that have accompanied it.

However whilst we cannot think of all this without some regret there is a brighter side to it for it seems certain that on November I* you will start on a new regime, so to speak, for you will have more leisure than you have had for a long time, and we do hope that you will have many years of it, and that you will be able to employ the time in a way which will bring you much joy and satisfaction.

Sincerely and gratefully, Nellie Smith

Because of the close proximity of St. Mary’s to the farm the family became very involved with the Church coming early in the morning to light the wood stove, then returning during the day to keep the fire burning and providing wood for the fire. John Shaw was Church Warden for 25 years and Betty, Gladys and Cree were all members of the Altar Guild. At a time when the Sunday service was held in the afternoon the Shaws provided tea for the congregation at their home and this became quite a social occasion. They would also have the Church Fete on their property some years and always opened up fields for the May 24 festivities. These social occasions were an important part of life.

The young Shaws loved the social events in the community card evenings and the dances. They were all good dancers and I hear that Willie was a wonderful dancer, light on his feet and all the girls loved to dance with him.

Later when card parties were no longer being organised the Shaws missed that socialising so the Lacy’s started holding card evenings at their home and they were so successful that the Mollets held some evenings too and cards were also played in Nancy’s coffee shop.

In gathering information I kept hearing the same thing how generous the Shaws were sharing their time, their skills and their property. They made their fields available to the Athletic Club for baseball and soccer. They were very good neighbours and they were popular members of the community. The Shaws gave the land for the Fulford Hall and more recently made a generous donation towards the new sea wall at Drummond Park.

By the start of the 1970’s Willie, Gladys and Cree were well into their sixties and finding the constant work of the farm too much, so in 1971 they sold up and moved into Ganges. What a change that must have been for them, they must have missed the farm terribly, also finding themselves distanced from those people they knew best.

It was obvious from the basement of their Ganges home that Willie continued to repair and make things. He obviously liked to keep himself busy with his projects. His fall when he was in his early 90’s was a great set back but when given the choice of having his leg amputated and coming home, or staying in the hospital, he made his choice. Of course Gladys and Cree were fearful and wondered if he would survive the surgery, but survive he did and he was back home in no time at all, learned to walk with an artificial leg and get on with his life. However there was no more pottering in the basement.

As with most people Willie, Gladys and Cree had to cope with health problems and restrictions caused by them but they soldiered on together until Gladys' sudden death in January 1999 Without Gladys it became impractical for Willie and Cree to continue together in the house so in due course they moved into Greenwoods for their remaining years. When Willie died in January of this year Cree found that for the first time in her 93 years she was alone.

As I have talked with people this last week about Willie, Gladys and Cree, people have spoken about them with warmth and love, fond memories of happy times. Their generosity of spirit towards their community is remembered, Time and again people said "They did so much".