Hugh Shaw Memorial Scholarship

The Hugh Shaw Memorial Scholarship was established in 2022 to honor the legacy of Hugh Shaw (1920-2017) by his sons, Dennis and Sam Shaw. Hugh was born in Wake County and lived there for his whole life, except for time served in the Army Air Corps in Africa and Europe during World War II. He was a founding charter member of Trinity Baptist Church. He lived a life of honesty, humility, kindness, generosity, service to others and hard work. His father was made a paraplegic by illness. From the age of 12, he cut firewood on the farm, loaded it on the mule wagon, hauled it to Raleigh and sold it door to door. As WWII was winding down, he was given a 30 day leave to come home from his duty station in Paris, France. After a couple of days home, he went and got a job until he was due to return. He always valued work ethic. His highest compliment was, “He (She) is a hard worker.” He received his initial mechanical and electrical systems training as an aircraft mechanic in the Army Air Corps. That training and his natural mechanical aptitude led to a long, successful career as a mechanic and then as service manager for a heavy equipment dealer. After he retired, he served as curriculum advisor for Wake Tech. In his memory, the Hugh Shaw Memorial Scholarship seeks to assist a person with a mechanical aptitude and high-level work ethic to pursue a career in heavy equipment maintenance.