In Memoriam

Sandra Jane Cote Shaw '62 She connected good people and good ideas By Karen Hammond '64

Astride her beloved horse, Smoky Joe, Sandra Jane Cote Shaw '62 spent much of her childhood exploring the woods of Grantham, N.H. Her adventurous spirit earned her the nickname "Wild Boar Cote."

Shaw, who died of lung cancer in November, lived each day to its fullest. At UNH, she majored in psychology and was the president of Theta Upsilon sorority. She earned a doctorate in psychology from the University of Kansas in 1970, two months before giving birth to her daughter Jennifer and just after winning the Lawrence City Doubles Bowling Championship. Even after her cancer diagnosis, she traveled to Alaska twice to visit her daughter and hike and camp in remote areas. She passed her love of the out-of-doors on to her daughter and six stepchildren, says Jennifer. Along with her second husband, Doug Witt, Shaw enjoyed country living with their dogs, extensive traveling and hosting memorable parties for eclectic groups of family, friends and neighbors around an outdoor fire pit at their home on the Kansas prairie. The parties were also the setting for successful fundraisers that included people from all walks of life.

In 1971, she became director of children's services at the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence, Kansas. "My mother often joked that my childhood was something of an experiment because I literally grew up in a mental health center," says Jennifer, who played in the waiting room while her mother met with children who came to her for counseling. Shaw rose to be chief executive officer of Bert Nash, a position she held until she retired in 2001. In the 1980s, she was the catalyst behind a community initiative called The Art of Mental Health, in which a piece of art by a local artist was chosen each year to promote mental health awareness. Along the way she also found time to earn a second master's degree in business administration at Rockhurst College and complete the John F. Kennedy School of Government summer program for state and local executives at Harvard. Shaw is credited with improving mental health programs in Douglas County and also mentored many mental health colleagues. Bert Nash has an employee award named the "Sandra Shaw Spirit Award."

There is retirement--and then there is retirement for someone like Shaw, who worked with Witt in private practice and volunteered for the Eco2 Commission and Kansas Land Trust. "She was a true connector of good people and good ideas," says her daughter.

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