Mosolene Kelley Shaw, 92

Graveside services for Mosolene Kelley Shaw, 92, of Springfield, were held Nov. 23, 2018, at Pontiac Cemetery, following funeral services at Greenlawn Funeral Home South in Springfield. Mrs. Shaw died Nov. 21 at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, surrounded by family, friends and faith.

She was born June 27, 1926, in Ozark County, the daughter of Luie and Etta Mae Pellham Kelley. 

Her mother died when she was 10, but she persevered, and after graduating from Gainesville High School in 1944, she headed to Wichita, Kansas, looking for work in the defense industry. In a story published in the Dec. 7, 2016, Ozark County Times, she said, “I’d never even been on a bus before.” She worked as an inspector in a factory that made C-46 military transport planes.

 After World War II ended, she attended college for a semester and then returned to Ozark County to teach in the one-room school in Pontiac. 

On June 30, 1946, she married Homer Quentin Shaw in Springfield, where they spent the rest of their lives together. In 1956, Mrs. Shaw went to work at Herr’s Department Store on the Springfield square. “I thought I’d just work through Christmas, but they kept me 31 years,” she told the Times in the 2016 interview. She managed the Herr’s notions department, selling sewing accessories, and then became the store’s fudge maker. She told the Times with a laugh, “Honey, I dipped the first chocolate strawberries that were ever sold in Springfield.”

Mrs. Shaw leaves a loving legacy of service to others. As a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and church matriarch, she lived her life as a selfless and faithful care-giver. She was a member of First General Baptist Church of Springfield, where many were blessed to have been touched by her love, charity and kindness. For many, she was lovingly known as “Granny.”

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Cindy Shaw of Springfield; her brother, Doyle Kelley and wife Claire of Ava; grandchildren Jason, Michael, Sara, Kenneth and Shawna Shaw, Shannon Gage and Shad Phillips; a special niece, Dolores Ray, and many other nieces and nephews as well as many great-grandchildren. 

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her brothers Don, Leon, Arnold and Eugene Kelley; and one sister, Oveta Kelley Clayton.

Greenlawn Funeral Home South, Springfield, directors.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423