John F. Shawcross
May 2, 1941 – April 4, 2021
Had Ivy Shawcross been in a different room when the German bomb demolished her London house in 1940, John Shawcross would never have been born, and the world would be the worse for it. But his mother survived the blast, and John came into the world on May 2, 1941. After his father, Kenneth, returned from the war, John’s family moved north to near Manchester where John’s sister, Linda, and brother, Charles, were born.
John’s childhood had its ups and downs, but he enjoyed biking around town with his friends, vacations to various parts of England, the Boy Scouts, the Goon show, science fiction, and playing chess. When still in high school, he took a fateful trip to Austria where he met the love of his life, Frances McCaffry, on a hike. After finishing his civil engineering degree at the University of Birmingham, he married Frances and the young couple moved around England as he worked on a variety of construction projects.
His mother called him a dreamer, and he was. In 1967, wanting to break free from the gloomy British winters and seek a brighter future, he took Frances, his daughter Clare (then two years old) and son Paul (one) on a boat to Tanzania, where at age 26 he was responsible for the urban water supplies of one third of the country. His daughter Lucy was born in Tanzania and the family enjoyed the tropical beaches near Dar es Salaam, the local community, and low-budget safaris in the Serengeti.
When the job in Tanzania wound down, John bought a one-way ticket to the United States, finding a job in Boston and bringing his family to live in Hull and Scituate. He loved America, but long commutes took their toll and when a friend offered him a job in the new country of Bangladesh, he took the opportunity. The family moved to Bangladesh for four years where, in increasingly responsible positions, John worked to bring clean water to millions of people in what was one of the world’s poorest countries. His family greatly enjoyed the vacations they took to nearby countries – often featuring a diversion to see the local water treatment plants!
The Shawcross family moved back to the United States in 1976 and, after a year in Wisconsin where John picked up a Master’s Degree, they moved to Winchester Massachusetts in 1977. John and Frances lived in the same house in Winchester for almost forty years until they moved to Woburn in 2016. John kept working until he was over 70, and his efforts did much to promote water conservation and bring clean water to the state. John and Frances made many good friends over the years, and appreciate their continuing support during his illness.
John loved his family and chess, probably in that order. He and Frances were married for fifty-seven years and remained in love until the last, despite canceling each other’s votes every election! He was very proud of his children’s achievements and doted on his grandkids, Annika, Sarah, Ean, Max, and Oliver, to whom he enjoyed slipping gifts of cash. His other love affair, with chess, began in the early 1950s, and continued right up until the week before he died. (He would want the reader to know that he won his last game.) John enjoyed playing chess with Frances, with friends down by the Mystic Lakes, and at various Senior Centers. For over 20 years, he was a driving force behind the Winchester Chess Club. In his retirement, John added another game to his repertoire and became an avid pool player.
John Shawcross leaves behind his family, many friends, and numerous works of engineering, both big and small, around the globe. Lift a glass of clean water to his memory. (Another libation can follow!)
A small family service will be held.
In lieu of flowers, the family ask that you remember John by supporting UNICEF's Safe and Clean Water Projects: https://www.unicefusa.org/mission/survival/water?form=donate