Born: March 29, 1918
Died: March 11, 1993
Married: Jeannette VanNortwick
Children: Stephen C. Shatraw, Martha E. Shatraw
Herb Shatraw was a radio and television repairman and a World War II Veteran and a Korean War veteran. He lived at 42 Baker Street from 1948 to 1969.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 15, 1993
Herbert A. Shatraw
SARANAC LAKE — Herbert A. Shawtraw, 74, of 54 Lake Flower Avenue, died Thursday, March 11, 1993 at the Adirondack Medical Center of Saranac Lake.
Born March 29, 1918 in Malone, he was the son of Herbert A. and Meta (Collins) Shatraw.
Mr. Shatraw moved to Saranac Lake in 1933 from Middleville, where he was active in basketball. He was a 1937 graduate of Saranac Lake High School and was employed as a ticket agent for New York Central Railroad from 1938 to 1948 working in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Thendara.
He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the Army Signal Corps. He tested radio equipment all over the United States before it was shipped off to be used in the war effort. He later saw action in China, Burma and India. He was also a veteran of the Korean conflict.
He married Jeannette VanNortwick on Sept. 12,1944.
After returning to Saranac Lake, he established Shatraw's Radio and later TV Sales and Service which he operated from 1953 until his death. He was a member of the American Legion Post 447 and was an avid sports fan.
Survivors include his wife; a son, Stephen C. and a daughter, Martha E. Shatraw, both of Saranac Lake; and two brothers: Malcolm C. of Saranac Lake and Stuart H. of Rochester, five grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Fortune- Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A Bible vigil will be held Monday at 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian burial will be held Tuesday, 11:5 p.m. at St. Bernard's Church. Interment will be in Pine Ridge Cemetery in May.
Memorial donations may be made to the Carmelite Monastery, St. Bernard's School or the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Squad.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 22, 1993
The mountains will miss Herb Shatraw
Dear Editor:
A crushing silence hangs over many in the North Country and elsewhere today, for they have lost a friend like no other they have ever known — Herb Shatraw. His outgoing friendship was backed by a genuine concern for people and a. natural generosity which were rooted in the truest spirit of the Adirondacks.
He served thousands of people in the area over a 40-year period as the television and radio man. As a young nephew living with Herb and Jeannette during the summers of the 1950s and 1960s, I was privileged to accompany him as his enthusiastic helper on calls to people's homes. He was one of that wonderful breed of service people who absolutely never charged more than a fair and reasonable amount, and more often than I could then understand repaired a set for free. I know now that he did this simply because he respected and treated each customer as a friend.
I have lived in or visited relatives in Saranac Lake (the hometown of my mother, Beulah VanNortwick McGann) in virtually every one of my 45 years. Like others, I have been drawn by the beauty of the mountains, the trees and the waters; but I have also been drawn, just as powerfully, by the spirit of the Adirondack people. The strength of character exemplified by Herb Shatraw, even in the face of adversity, is a shining beacon which will not be dimmed by his death. He was a towering tree who many will always recall with a fierce pride and love. Even the mountains will miss him.
John P. McGann Halesite
