Albert S. Shaw Jr., 87, attorney

Albert S. Shaw Jr., 87, of Newtown Square, a lawyer in Philadelphia for many years, died Thursday, Aug. 27, of Parkinson's disease at White Horse Village.

A longtime resident of Newtown Square, he was a graduate of Yeadon High School, where he played basketball and baseball.

In 1950, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. While there, he managed the basketball team and pledged Alpha Sigma Phi.

During the first year of his studies at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Mr. Shaw was called up to serve in the Army. He participated in the Korean War and was honorably discharged with the rank of second lieutenant.

He continued his studies at Penn Law School and, equipped with a legal degree, joined the firm of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads L.L.P., in Philadelphia. Over the next 40 years, he became a partner with a specialty in trial law. He was a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and at one point served as the organization's secretary.

A civic volunteer, Mr. Shaw was chairman of the Newtown Square Planning Commission at a critical time when the Arco Chemical Corp. purchased and developed the Ellis School property along West Chester Pike. The school had served fatherless girls since the early 1900s at the bequest of Charles E. Ellis, who made his fortune with a horse-drawn trolley company, according to mainlinetoday.com.

After the school closed in 1977, a third of the land was converted into a corporate campus for Arco. Mr. Shaw worked closely with Arco officials to ensure optimum preservation of open space within the project and to help restore the 18th-century Square Tavern on Arco land at Goshen Road and Route 252.

An active member of Waynesborough Country Club for 45 years, he served as tennis chairman and then as a member of the board of governors for two terms.

Flying small aircraft was Mr. Shaw's leisure-time passion. He owned and flew a succession of single-engine airplanes. He and his wife traveled from Philadelphia to California, to the Bahamas, up and down the East Coast, and to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming and back.

Shortly after retiring in the 1990s, Mr. Shaw became a volunteer flight coordinator for Angel Flight East, a nonprofit composed of pilots who donate flights in their own planes to patients and their families who need help getting to medical appointments far from home. He absolutely loved the work.

"He would just light up when he talked about it," said his daughter, Jennifer S. Stearns.

He also followed the Phillies and Eagles, and enjoyed reading Civil War history.

Besides his daughter, he is survived by his wife, Helen J.; two grandchildren; and a brother.

A memorial service is to be at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, in the chapel at St. David's Episcopal Church, 763 S. Valley Forge Rd., Wayne, Pa. 19087. Interment is private.

Donations may be made to Angel Flight East, 1501 Narcissa Rd., Blue Bell, Pa. 19422, or to the church at the address above.