By Mike Schnitzel
"He was a courtly gentleman," said Deputy Mayor Richard Meagher, who spoke at Shaw's funeral at the Hewlett/East Rockaway Jewish Center on Oct. 23. "There was steel beneath that - he was a very strong leader."
Shaw achieved much in his two terms as mayor. Funding and development of the East Rockaway Senior Citizens Center took place during Shaw's administration, and construction began in 1991. "He led the way in determining that it needed to be built," said Meagher.
After the Grist Mill Museum was set ablaze by an arsonist in 1990, Shaw encouraged the Grist Mill Volunteer Committee and members of the community to assist in restoring the museum, which reopened in 1993. According to Meagher, Shaw was also responsible for establishing a defined-contribution plan that gave East Rockaway's volunteer firefighters compensation for their years of service. He also served as president of the Nassau County Village Officials Association during his tenure as mayor, Meagher said.
"He was a good man to work for," said East Rockaway Clerk/Treasurer Dennis McCabe, who began working for the village during Shaw's first term. "He was very meticulous - he paid attention to details and made sure that everything was right."
Shaw, a board member of the Metropolitan Region of Synagogues, had been on the board of directors of the Hewlett/East Rockaway Jewish Center since 1954, according to Rabbi Stanley Platek, who presided over Shaw's funeral service. Platek said that Shaw was president of the congregation for two years during the late 1970s, and was a devoted member of the congregation.
"He was a man of impeccable integrity, and he served [the congregation] with distinction," said Platek. "He told people the truth as it was, and he was polite about it."
Shaw was a man whose love of family came first, and his love of science was a close second, according to Pauline, who married Shaw in 1938. He was the co-holder of numerous pharmaceutical patents, and was president of the pharmaceutical manufacturing firm Vitarine for 20 years. When the company was acquired by West Chemical Products in 1960, Shaw joined West Chemical's board of directors. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Parenteral Drug Association, an organization of manufacturers of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, and a member of the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, said Pauline.
According to Meagher, Shaw contributed to the National Formulary, and was a contributing editor of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, two definitive books on pharmaceutical science. He established the Irving F. Shaw and Pauline K. Shaw Chemistry Scholarship at Brooklyn College, according to his wife.
"We loved him," said Pauline. "He was respected by everybody."
Shaw and his wife moved to Manhattan in 1999 to be closer to their two children, Martin, and Rochelle Slovin.
Shaw was buried at Mount Ararat Cemetery in Farmingdale. Meagher said that in his honor, flags at Village Hall were flown at half staff for a week following his death.
