Garrett “Snake” Shaw, D-2600, passed away May 3 after an illness. He was 80 years old. Shaw is survived by his wife, Jade Piearson. In 1975, Shaw joined the USPA Board of Directors by winning a special election to fill the North Central Conference (now called Regional) Director vacancy, completing the 1975-1976 board term. He won reelection for the 1977-1978 term. During his second term, he served as Chairman of the Finance & Budget Committee.

Shaw began jumping with the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division in 1956 and made his first sport jump in 1962, earning his USPA Jumpmaster and Instructor ratings in 1971. He was a charter member of the South Dakota Skydivers. According to Tom Plonka, who came to know Shaw after he relocated to Florida and began jumping at Jimmy Godwin’s Paragators DZ, “He wasn’t very talkative, but he was a great skydiver and a great guy.”