Shaw, Peter Desmond
Shaw, Peter Desmond
July 20, 1960 - January 16, 2021
At the young age of 60, passed away on Saturday January 16, 2021 at Guelph General Hospital due to complications from ALS & FTD (frontotemporal dementia).
Predeceased by parents Reginald (2002) and Ellen (2019), Peter leaves behind his much loved family: partner, Sandra MacEachern, siblings Michael (Cathie), Julia (Roger), Kevin (Holly) and Stephen, nieces and nephews Patricia (Dan), Heather, Christopher (Ashley), Larissa (Mike), Robyn, grand-nieces & nephews, and the MacEachern clan – Alex & JoAnn, Stephen, Jeanette, Ethan & Kylie, and Ian & Attila. Peter will also be missed by his many friends, including his canine buddy, Charlie.
Peter was a sensitive, kind, compassionate, generous & adventurous person. He packed a lot of living into his 60 years. He loved the outdoors and had many interests including hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, camping, skiing and snowboarding. Having lived and worked abroad for 5 years in England and Japan, he travelled extensively and enjoyed telling people he had been to 24 countries by the time he was 40. He also loved music and after learning how to play the trumpet in high school he picked it up again in 2015 when he joined the New Horizons Band Guelph. He never trained in dance, but he had natural rhythm and was trilled to play the part of "the snowman" in friend Sandra's Christmas dance program a number of years ago.
After obtaining his BSc and MSW from the University of Toronto Peter spent his career working in health care, first at the Barrie Community Health Centre and later at the Waterloo Wellington Community Care Access Centre.
Peter was a person of integrity who lived his life by his values. He cared deeply for the environment and animals. He was proud to give both his time and money to organizations that supported animal welfare, and his commitment to a vegan lifestyle for 23+ years was not just for the animals, but also for the planet.
Special thanks to neurologists Dr. Cartagena & Dr. Shoesmith who in 2020 were finally able to provide a diagnoses after a frustrating years long search for answers to what was causing Peter’s various symptoms. Since then, there have been many medical professionals who supported Peter on his journey including Dr. Chum, Barbara Miller, & Barbara Arvai from the ALS clinic (4U) - Hamilton Health Sciences, Occupational Therapist Diane Schilling, and most recently, the wonderful PSW staff from Paramed. Peter also benefited from the equipment loan program through the ALS Society of Canada, and the assistance provided by the Alzheimer Society of Waterloo Wellington was a huge help to Sande in her role as a caregiver.
Thank you also to all our family, friends & neighbours for your tremendous support and assistance over the past year. Your calls, visits and meals were very much appreciated and lifted our spirits.
Due to Covid-19 a celebration of life will be held at a later date.
If you wish to make a donation in Peter’s memory, please consider giving to one of the following organizations: The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, ALS Society of Canada (http://support.alsevents.ca/Peter_Shaw), ALS clinic (4U) - Hamilton Health Sciences, Alzheimer Society of Waterloo Wellington. Alternatively, Peter was always one to root for the underdog and truly wanted to make the world a better place. He would love it if you would perform an action to benefit your community, whether that is helping a neighbor, signing a petition, cleaning up a park, or volunteering for a cause that you believe in.
