Duane Paul Shaw

Duane Paul Shaw was born March 5, 1941 in Lansing Michigan to Richard Shaw and Bernice Heller. Duane had an older brother Richard and younger sister Lee Ann. After finishing high school in 1962 he joined the Air Force and served in Libya at the Tripoli Air Force Base. When he returned to the United States, he was assigned to San Antonio Texas where he met his first wife Mary Inez Olivares. They married in 1965 and had three boys during the coming years: Duane Philip Shaw, Richard Edward Shaw, and John Daniel Shaw. When he left the military in 1966, he attended St. Mary's University earning his Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and then The University of Texas at San Antonio where he earned his Master's in Environmental Studies. During his college years, he worked different jobs to support his family and finally began a career with the Texas Department of Human Services. In 1986 he resigned from state service and went to work for the United States Department of the Air Force. Duane also joined the Air Force Reserves serving until age 60 with the 433d Airlift Wing in San Antonio, Texas as a Disaster Preparedness Specialist. When he married his second wife Vinita, he transferred to the Department of the Army and began working at Fort Bliss as a Brigade Comptroller. He retired December 31 2006. He and Vinita loved to travel and were fortunate to make several wonderful trips before he was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy in 2010. Duane was active in city government serving on the Sheriff's Advisory Committee and the Border Patrol's Citizen Advisory Committee. He was an avid photographer winning several awards and serving as the President of PEEP, a city wide club of photographers. He belonged to the El Paso Historical Society and loved to participate in Civil War Re-enactments in Arizona and New Mexico. He took the role of a field photographer such as Matthew Brady was. Duane had begun writing poetry in his youth and published his first book DUANE'S WORLD which was a collection of his photos and poetry in 2009. In 2011 he published his second book CIVIL WAR IN THE WEST and had started writing a 3rd book on the Spanish American War when he became too ill to continue. Even after he became ill, he wanted to make a difference. He participated in a research study at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, taking a experimental drug for a year and traveling there for monthly evaluations. To date, there is still no treatment to alleviate the devastating effects of PSP. Duane was only 72 when he passed away on October 13, 2013. He leaves behind his wife of 21 years Vinita, his 3 sons Phil, Richard (wife Dede), and John (partner Jason Holland), grandson Jakob, stepson Jonas Patrick (wife Diana), stepdaughters Shari and Lisa Patrick, step-grandsons Bram Kuivenhoven (wife Amber and son Gabriel), Brennan and Brady Patrick, and step granddaughter Marla Kate Russell. Predeceased by his parents, he also leaves his brother Richard Shaw and his wife Joyce, his sister Lee Ann Adams and husband Jim, and several nieces and nephews. Services will be held at Fort Sam Houston at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to CurePSP or the charity of your choice.