Mary Ann Plaia Shaw

Mary Ann Plaia Shaw, 84, of Azle, died on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, TX. She was born December 3, 1932 to Bessie Mazzola and Joseph Tremont Plaia in Beaumont, Texas. She moved from Beaumont to the Metroplex at the end of the 60’s and hit the ground running. She was a woman with her hands in lots of pots whilst wearing lots of hats both literally and figuratively; only she could pull off a derby hat on any old Tuesday. As a young mother she worked as a lawyer’s assistant while working toward a career in real estate. She culminated a successful real estate business and helped to run the young city of Glenn Heights. She had a deep passion for writing and had previously worked for a newspaper and at a production company. She could often be found banging away at her typewriter working on her auto biography or her next big idea. As her young family grew and had families of their own she took the lead, naturally, as family matriarch making sure holidays and birthdays went off without a hitch; eggs filled with money and treats on Easter, amazing feasts at Thanksgiving, and THE BEST Christmas Eve parties to date—serious poker game included. She was in constant motion. She loved to travel and moved around the metroplex frequently. When she wasn’t moving residences, she was moving furniture; she was an excellent furniture shuffler, it even became a hobby for her late in life. Family was of the utmost importance to her and she could always be counted on for great advice, a warm place to land, a hot meal, and even a little bit of her poker winnings. She was the definition of love and family. She is preceded in death by her parents Bessie Mazzola Plaia Ellis and Joe Tremont Plaia, brother Jerry Louis Plaia, and grandson Michael Shackelford. She is survived by her husband Richard Shaw of Azle; children Sharon Mitchell of Lake Worth, John Blazejewski of Lake Worth, and Lisa Trammell and her husband, Brian of Azle; Siblings Margaret Martindale of Lumberton, Terry Plaia and his wife, Darlene of Newton, Jo Ellen Roy and her husband, Roland of Lumberton, and Chris Plaia and his wife, Patty of Austin; sister-in-law, Sheryll Plaia of Beaumont; grandchildren Shannon Bleau and her husband, Gerald of Euless, Katrina Smith and her husband, Zachariah of Sherman, and Rachel Hansen and her husband, Joshua of Celina; great grandchildren Jason and Kyle Bleau of Euless, Kamryn and Macey Shackelford of Henderson, NV, Jocelyn, Bryant, and Gwendolyn Hansen of Celina, and Lilah and Bram Smith of Sherman; along with many nieces and nephews as well as other beloved family and friends. A gathering of those family and friends will be held on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at 1:00 pm for a memorial service in Fort Worth at Brown Owens and Brumley Family Funeral Home Chapel. Flowers may be sent to the funeral home.

Brown, Owens & Brumley
Family Funeral Home & Crematory
425 S. Henderson
Fort Worth, TX 76104
(817) 335-4557