http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS Thursday, August 29, 2024 21
Amy W.
Shaw of
Battle Creek- July 23,
1987-August
12, 2024.
Our dear,
sweet Amy
arrived early
into our world
at 29 weeks,
3 pounds, 5 ounces! at Magee
Hospital in Pittsburgh. When her
brother, Jeremy aged 3-1/2 saw
her in the incubator, he said “things
on baby want them off.” She did
well in the NICU and came back
to Battle Creek a month before her
due date and was given a beautiful
quilt hand sewn by my good friends.
Amy thrived and was always active,
wanting to try everything. She wore
a tutu everywhere and wanted to
do ballet when she was 4 but didn’t
want to go into the room, so we
left and she danced at home. She
loved swimming, was always creat-
ing cups with cherries on that she
painted. She stenciled her room.
She mixed up all sorts of concoc-
tions from the kitchen cabinets.
She loved her brother, Jeremy,
and followed him to Fremont
Elementary School, where her first
grade teacher said she did perfect
work but could she do it a little
faster! She and her mother attended
a presentation on girls going into
math and science and the lady
talked about finding their passion
and Amy seemed worried when she
said, “I don’t know what my passion
is.” When she was 5 years old she
wanted to bring peace to the Middle
East. Amy was always curious.
Amy then went on to W.K. Kellogg
Junior High and in 9th grade she
was in band and asked by an
upperclassman to run and get him
a drink and in her enthusiasm, she
ran across the street and a car ran
over her right foot and she gained
the nickname “Speed Bump.” She
later tested into attending the Math
and Science Center and stayed for
two years and discovered it was not
for her.
Meanwhile, Amy was starting to
love theatre and was involved in
many small roles from fourth grade
on and then was chosen to be
Alice in “Alice in Wonderland.” She
was also in a production of “How
to Succeed” at Kellogg Community
College in eighth grade. She also
participated in the old Discovery
Theatre downtown.
After completing high school,
Amy spread her wings and moved
to Pittsburgh to stay with a fam-
ily friend and she worked in the
big old Kaufmann’s Department
store downtown and took classes
at Allegheny Community College.
She returned to Battle Creek and
attended the CENA training at
Kellogg Community College and
used her license to work at a couple
of nursing homes. Her interest in
gerontology took hold and she
was a behavioral health worker at
Fieldstone Center on the geriatric
unit. Amy showed a tenderness and
compassion with the patients and
also a sense of humor.
Spreading her wings again, Amy
moved to East Lansing and took her
required classes to be able to trans-fer to Central Michigan University
where she discovered an interest
in applied behavioral analysis and
worked in the Autism Center under
the guidance of Dr. Seth Whiting,
who inspired her and made her
laugh. Amy graduated in December
2019 with a B.S. in Psychology.
Amy wanted to study Applied
Behaviors Analysis in graduate
school and was excited to be admit-
ted to Western Michigan University
to work with Dr. Jonathan Baker,
whose specialty is gerontology.
She loved working with him and
how natural he was as a teacher.
Amy moved from Mount Pleasant
to Kalamazoo during Covid and
was lonely until she started making
many good friends over the years.
She was a nontraditional student
and was pleased that her younger
peers included her. To quote Dr.
Baker, “She has a passion for work-
ing with older adults and planned
to go into academia to conduct
research and train future practitio-
ners/researchers.” She was recog-
nized for her presentation at ABAI
with the student presenter award
from the Behavioral Gerontology
Special Interest Group.
As Amy’s mother, I watched her
grow in confidence and acceptance
of herself. She worked through
some struggles in her life and
allowed others to be themselves.
When Deborah would doubt her-
self, Amy would say, “You need to
see yourself as others see you.”
Sometimes Deb would repeat that
back to her. Amy shared politics
with her brother, Jeremy. She held a
student pilot certificate. She enjoyedflying lessons with her father in his
1946 Champ airplane. As we all
struggle through losing her, we have
to tell ourselves that she was doing
what she loved to do with James,
the man she loved.
Amy is survived by her father,
Glenn Alfred Shaw; her brother,
Jeremy Whitten Shaw; her mother,
Deb Whitten, and her partner,
James Morden. She leaves behind
in California, Aunt Molly; cous-
ins Rich and Del. Uncle Dick and
cousin Todd predeceased her. In
Colorado are Uncle Tom, Aunt
Ronna, cousins Eric, Brian and
Mark. Uncle Peter is in Maryland
and cousin Ted in Connecticut. On
her father’s side are cousins Rena
and Lora. Maternal grandmother
Mildred Whitten was 84 when Amy
was born and died when Amy was
10, and Amy wrote her a note, “You
are going to a better place,” and
slipped a Hershey bar into the cas-
ket! Maternal grandfather Thomas E.
Whitten and paternal grandparents
Virginia and Ray Shaw predeceased
her. She also leaves behind a dear
family friend, Linda, in Pittsburgh
and beloved friend Terry. Amy was
a proud cat lady and leaves behind
her two cats, Wynne and Gabby.
A memorial service to celebrate
Amy’s life was held Wednesday,
August 21, 2024, at the Farley Estes
Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation
Care. The service was recorded and
may be viewed at https://vimeo.com/
event/4520791.
Personal messages for the family
may be placed at http://www.farlyestes-
dowdle.com.Roger
Allen Perry, a
beloved father,
grandfather,
great-grandfa-
ther and broth-
er, passed
away August
21, 2024. He
graduated
from Marshall
Schools in 1958.
He is survived by his children,
Steve (Becky) Perry, Kathy Newby,
Jeanne (Jeff) Garman, Carmen
(Tim) Mulderink, Blane (Jen)
Perry, JeNelle (Tim) Dellinger,
Sky (Sabrina) Perry; siblings
Elsie (Perry) Page, Dale Perry; as
well as his eight grandchildren,
Michael (Nancy) Perry, Sarah Perry,
Stephen Perry, Kelli (Chris) O’Neill,
Daniel Perry, Kyrstin (Roy) Herpin,
Savannah Perry and Taylor Perry.
He was also cherished by seven
great-grandchildren.
Roger was preceded in death
by his brother Jerry Perry; mother
Gladys (Weaver) Guile; father
Harold Perry; and stepfather
Charles Guile.
A jack of all trades, Roger man-
aged the Redington Surf Motel, a
mom-and-pop establishment on the
Gulf Coast of Florida in his younger
years. He had a passion for repair-ing TVs and electronics and enjoyed
working as an electrician. Every
day, he looked forward to visiting
the coffee shop or truck stop, where
he spent hours enjoying
coffee and sharing stories
with friends.
A celebration of life
will be held at Maple
Methodist Church, 342
N.E. Capital Ave., Battle
Creek, MI 49017, on
Saturday, September 14,
2024, at 1 p.m.
Roger’s warm spirit and
love for life will be pro-
foundly missed by all who
knew him.Arrangements entrusted to Baxter
Funeral & Cremation Service, 269-
788-9800. http://www.baxterfuneral.com— ELDER LAW —- Legal advice & counseling regarding long term care.
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- Advice for your financial and/or medical condition.
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Stacey Lott • Planning for blended and non-traditional families
Attorney at Law
269-963-8222 • http://www.staceylottlaw.com
130 East Columbia Ave., Battle Creek, MI 49015