Bob Shaw '84, a conference champion football player and member of the Lake Forest College Athletics Hall of Fame, passed away on January 28.
Shaw was born in Yonkers, New York, and moved to Arlington Heights, Illinois, as an 11-year-old. He attended Rolling Meadows High School, where he competed in football, wrestling, and track and was his class president.
At Lake Forest College, Shaw was a four-year letter winner on the football team and earned All-Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference honors while serving as a captain his junior and senior seasons. He set a school record with 122 tackles in 1982 and was named the Foresters' Most Valuable Player on defense that year. After helping to lead the 1983 team to a 7-2 overall record and a league title as a senior, Shaw graduated with a program record 330 tackles and still ranks third in school history in that category. He was inducted in the Forester Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
"Bobby was an exceptional person" recalled Mike Dau '58, Lake Forest College Head Football Coach from 1966 to 1991. "He was very mature and recognized as a leader by his teammates, who voted him captain as a junior and senior. He went on to success, both professionally and in his personal life, after graduation and he will always represent to me what a man should be."
As a student Shaw was also a Resident Assistant and a member of Brotherhood, a social organization on campus. He met Laura, his wife of 33 years, while at the College. Together, they lovingly raised their four children—Emily, Alison, Bobby and Elizabeth—in Glenview, Illinois.
After graduation, Shaw worked in the corporate telecommunications industry and eventually owned his own business.
A private memorial service was held on February 6.
