Betty Shaw

1930 - 2011

Betty was born in Matamata in 1930 and moved to Matua where her parents had a 10-acre lemon orchard. She was number 11 of 15 children.

Betty biked to work (before the Chapel Street causeway was built) at Gilmour Rogers which was a drapery store providing, linen, haberdashery clothing and menswear.

When she was 26, she moved to Matamata where she worked as the receptionist at the Hotel. Betty returned to Tauranga after 3 years to care for her widowed mother and looked after her Mother for 34 years. 

Betty was one of our earliest donors and established the Betty Shaw Fund in 2003. Betty and her late mother who suffered from Arthritis had long been active supporters of the Arthritis Foundation, where Betty was the treasurer of the local society for a number of years. She saw Acorn as an ideal way to continue to support this very worthy organisation long after she was no longer able to be actively involved. The Arthritis Foundation is the sole beneficiary of Betty’s fund, and we at Acorn will have huge pleasure in sending the income cheque to that Foundation every year forever. This is a wonderful legacy to a worthy organisation from a wonderful lady. Betty passed away in March 2011 and left part of her estate to the Betty Shaw Fund.

She was also a keen National Party supporter and on the DARE Foundation, aiming to develop self-esteem and assertiveness.

The Shaw Family name lives on in Tauranga through their orchard which is now subdivided and respectively named Shaw Place, Benjamin Place and Edith Way after Betty’s parents.

She had a good life, enjoyed travelling overseas, meeting lots of people and making a lot of friends. She was also an award-winning ball room dancer and managed the Summit Motor Lodge in Tauranga for a couple of years while in her 70's.