Great Grandma Helen Elizabeth Shaw

 

 

Helen Elizabeth (Shaw) Meese & Grayson Walter Meese 

Genealogy Research

    Helen Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of Homer Ripley Shaw and Vena Martha Warner, was born November 11, 1916 in Pennsylvania. She had several siblings including Homer Earl Shaw, Blanch Edna Shaw, Nellie Ellen Shaw, Nelson Warner Shaw, and Verne Wayne Shaw. In 1920, Helen at age 3 lived with her parents and siblings in Ceres, McKean County, Pennsylvania. Helen and her family lived in Franklinville, Cattaraugus, New York from 1925 to 1935. In 1940, Helen at age 23 lived with her sister and brother-in-law Nellie Ellen (Shaw) Peasley and Gilbert Arthur Peasley in San Diego, San Diego County, California. Helen Elizabeth Shaw married Grayson Walter Meese in Buffalo, Erie County, New York on April 2, 1949. In 1950, Helen and Grayson lived in Downey, Los Angeles County, California. They had two children, my grandma Sandra Karen Meese and her brother Gary Allen Meese. Helen Elizabeth (Shaw) Meese died on March 23, 1984 in San Diego, California. 

 

Helen Elizabeth (Shaw) Meese and Sandra Karen Meese

Fun Facts 

• Helen took dress making classes and sewed her own wedding dress as well as Grayson's tux. 
• She was also crafty with crochet and woodworking. She built a custom sewing desk as she was only 4 feet and 11 inches tall. 
• Helen nearly died of whopping cough as a baby. 
• She had to have ear drum surgery as a kid. 
• She babysat for one of her father Grayson's friends. 
• Helen went to stay with another household to do chores in order to go to school. 
• She assembled radios during World War II.  
• Helen was friendly chatting with cashiers at the grocery store. 
• She and Grayson would have dinner with friends once a month to catch up. 
• Helen, Grayson, and their kids would visit her relatives in New York and pick wild strawberries. Helen would make strawberry shortcakes with the wild berries.
• She liked to listen to songs by Doris Day. 
• Helen would cook from scratch. She made lots of different dishes including goulash and chicken roast 
• She did not know how to drive. Grayson tried to teach her, but it did not go well. 

 

school picture of Helen Elizabeth Shaw

Personality Cards 

    11+11+1916=1938. 1+9+3+8=21 and 2+1=3. So Helen's birth cards are the World (21) and the Empress (3). The World is a card of completion, wholeness, and fulfillment. The Empress is a card of creativity, abundance, and compassion. This birth pair is full of love and potential. The World is the last Major Arcana card. It comes at the end of the Fool's journey when they better understand themselves, their strengths and limitations, as well as the world around them. It is the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. The World is a card of celebration and accomplishment. The Empress is the mother card. It is about nurture, comfort, empathy, kindness, and beauty. The Empress is a card of fertility and care. So, the World and the Empress as a birth pair indicate someone with a creative imagination, full of ideas, with a holistic perspective, and a desire to connect with people. 

    Helen's sun sign in astrology is Scorpio. This sign is known for being intense and private, loyal and possessive, insightful and perceptive, mysterious and secretive, emotional and moody. This is a sign that seeks purpose and digs for the hidden meaning to life's mysteries. Scorpio is a fixed water sign ruled by Mars the planet of war and Pluto the planet of transformation. In tarot, Scorpio is associated with Death (13). Death is a card of transition, release, and rebirth. Death signifies an ending to a chapter of life and the beginning of a new one. It is a portent of change like a phoenix dying and rising from the ashes. The Minor Arcana card associated with Scorpio and Helen's specific birth date is the 6 of Cups. This card represents memory, nostalgia, and gifts. The 6 of Cups is reminiscing about the past, friendship, and childlike joy. 

 

Helen Elizabeth (Shaw) Meese, Butchie the dog, & Grayson Walter Meese 

With love, 

Autumn Rose Surratt 

The Ancestor Witch

Sources 

• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFYN-WBJ 
• U.S. New York State Census 1925 on Ancestry 
• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7H8-52D 
• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9HD-SX2 
• U.S. Presbyterian Church Records 1701-1970 on Ancestry 
• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGN-H8MY 
• U.S. California Death Index 1940-1997 on Ancestry 
• second hand information from my grandma Sandy 
• Archetypal Tarot by Mary K. Greer 
• Astrology for Real Life by Theresa Reed 
• Tarot and Astrology by Corrine Kenner