Susan Swinburne Shaw

Susan Swinburne Shaw passed from this world on the morning of  August 5th 2026.

Susan was born on January 23rd 1946 in Miami Florida. The oldest child of CH Swinburne and Sybil Swinburne. She and her parents relocated after her birth to Brazil as her father’s job for Pan Am Airlines would necessitate many a move around the world throughout her childhood.

From Brazil, back to the states, England, Germany, and Switzerland (for boarding school), Susan’s years growing up abroad gave her an outlook of global connection and a passion for seeing the world and building community.

Her time in Switzerland at boarding school in Gstaad, and her later high school years  at Frankfurt American School were times that she held dear and spoke of fondly and often the rest of her life.

Susan came back to the states for college (leaving her parents and younger brother still living in Germany at the time). She attended Middlebury college in Vermont where she attained her BA.

In college Susan was setup on a blind date by a friend with James Shaw, a student at Dartmouth college and planning to attend Medical school. As history shows, they hit it off quite well on that blind date and 2 years later married.

They moved to Boston and then to Sacramento for Jim’s medical residency, where Susan attained 2 masters degrees from Sacramento State, after residency they moved to Spokane Washington where they grew their family with a son and 2 daughters,  and where Susan spent the rest of her life (while not traveling).

To say Susan was a devoted mother and wife is a great disservice to the word devoted. She practiced and displayed what true love without restrictions or demands looks like. She taught her children that empathy and the ability to connect with people regardless of differences was the greatest skill you can foster.

Throughout her life Susan was passionate about serving others.  She both worked for and started up multiple service oriented organizations throughout her life; WACAP (helping adopters and adoptees), as a lay minister at Covenant United Methodist church, and as the director and founder of the Humor Care program at Sacred Heart Medical Center. She constantly was looking to uplift others around her.

A devoted traveler of this planet, Susan made time to travel her entire life. Though raising 3 children and managing a household  meant closer to home travel and summer roadtrips for many years. Later in life Susan made time to get back to Europe on more than one occasion, travel to China (for the 2nd time in her life), safari and trek gorillas in Africa, float the Amazon (returning to her childhood home of Brazil) stand at the arctic circle, and even take a cruise to Antarctica (the place she called her favorite place).

Her years since the pandemic were devoted to the love, care, and support of her husband James as they navigated aging and care needs.

If there was ever a PhD in empathy Susan Shaw would be the first recipient.

She is survived by, her loving husband of almost 60 years James Shaw; her children, Daniel Shaw, Serena Ford, and Brenna Shaw; her grandchildren, Diego and Jonah Garcia, Isaiah Eligar, and AJ and Nea Ford; her Brother Stephen Swinburne; her niece Sonja Mack and family; her nephew Corey Swinburne; as well as a large extended group of family and close friends.

Private services will be held on September 14th 2026 at Heritage with a public celebration of life to follow from 3-5pm at Covenant United Methodist Church