Agatha Mary (Sites) Shaw (1899 - 1987)

Born 11 Nov 1899 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, USA

Ancestors

Wife of Roscoe Robert Shaw — married 5 Sep 1922 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, USA at the County Courthouse

Descendants

Died 22 Jan 1987 at age 87 in Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, USA

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Biography

Agatha Mary Sites was born on November 11, 1899 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. She was the second child and first daughter of Joseph and Catherine Rose 'Kate' (Keelty) Sites. Joseph Jasaitis was a tailor who emigrated to the U.S. from Lithuania in 1886, along with several of his siblings. Upon their arrival, all but one of his brothers adopted the Anglicized surname "Sites". Kate Keelty, the daughter of two Irish immigrants, Michael and Mary (Cosgrove) Keelty, was a native Ohioan from Zanesville, located in Muskingum County, about 55 miles east of Columbus.

Joseph and Catherine Sites were married in Saint Patrick's Catholic Church, located at 280 North Grant Ave. in Columbus, on January 6, 1896. The ceremony was officiated by the Very Reverend M.A. McFeely, O.P., Prior of the Convent of Saint Rose in Springfield, Kentucky, where Catherine's brother, Joseph T. Keelty, was preparing for life as a Dominican Friar. Several years later, Reverend Keelty was installed as the Pastor of Saint Patrick's Church. Their families' deeply religious upbringing was evidenced in the fact that, following their wedding, Joseph and Kate resided at 415 Buttles Avenue in Columbus, less than a block from another of the many Catholic churches in the city, Saint Francis of Assisi.

Agatha's older brother, Joseph Francis Sites, Jr., was born on July 24, 1897. Although his whereabouts at the time have not been documented, it is presumed that one of Joseph's younger brothers, Frank, either lived or was a frequent visitor at the Sites family's residence, as on January 30, 1901, he married Leopoldine A. 'Tenie' Petru. Tenie lived with her parents, Charles and Carolina (Heckel) Petru, at 409 Buttles Avenue, just three houses down the street. Later that same year, Joseph and Agatha's younger sister, Constance Catherine, was born on November 26, 1901.

After graduating from high school, Agatha took a job as a stenographer for the American Railway Express Company, where her brother also worked. At this time, all of the Sites siblings still lived with their parents. World War I had come to an end, and Columbus was enjoying a rapid expansion as a result of being a regional hub of railway activity. In 1920, the family moved a few blocks to the east to 325 Hubbard Avenue.

At about that time, Agatha began dating a young man named Roscoe Robert 'Ross' Shaw. Ross was the son of Robert A. and Hannah P. (Decker) Shaw. Robert Shaw was a Civil War veteran and a former mayor of Groveport, Ohio, and Ross had followed in his father's footsteps, serving in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. His first marriage to Euphemia Duncan 'Effie' Harrington had ended in divorce following his return from service in World War I.

Agatha and Ross were married on September 1, 1922. As a result of Ross' divorce, the couple were unable to exchange their sacramental vows in a Catholic church, and instead were married in civil ceremony that was officiated by Municipal Judge E.V. Mehaffey. At that time, Agatha took the opportunity to legally change her name to Mary Agatha Shaw. Over the next several years, they had three sons, including:

Richard Robert Shaw 1923-1943
Thomas Ross Shaw 1925-Living
Sanford Joseph Shaw 1929-2011

Ross' employment as a salesman led their family temporary reassignments at several locations around the country, including: Los Angeles, California; Lakeland, Florida; and, Detroit, Michigan. With his mother, Hannah, in declining health, the Shaws moved back to Columbus for good in the early 1930s, and Ross took a job as a sales tax examiner for the State of Ohio. A few years later, Mary's mother passed away as a result of stomach cancer on April 9, 1936. Mary's younger sister, Constance, moved back into her father's house with her husband, Otto L. Kraft.

Around the end of 1941, the Kraft's moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where Otto took a new job as a lubrication engineer, and Mary's father went along, leaving Mary, Ross and Joe Jr. in Columbus. In March 1942, Ross and Mary's eldest son, Richard, enlisted for military service in World War II with the intent of becoming a fighter pilot. Unfortunately, on March 12, 1943, he was killed in a plane crash during an Army Air Corps training flight at Key Field, located in Meridian, Mississippi. He was returned to Columbus and buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in Lockbourne, Ohio on March 18th. Two years later, on March 29, 1945, Mary's father passed away at her sister's home in Indianapolis, and his body was shipped back to Columbus for burial beside his wife, Kate.

the home of her On October 1, 1956, he passed away at the age of 77 as the result of a heart attack. Ross was buried at Groveport Cemetery on October 3, 1956. Mary continued to live at their home, located at 2395 Dover Road in Columbus, for many years before returning to Lakeland, Florida to live with her surviving sons, Thomas and Sanford. She passed away in Lakeland on January 22, 1987.