Kathrine “Kay” Dana Shaw, whose legacy is etched in south Orange County philanthropy and business, died on Jan. 8. She was 102.
Before her death, she was the oldest living relative of Dana Point’s namesake, author Richard Henry Jr., but she was something of a local celebrity in her own right through her work as a publicist and play producer in the 1950s and transition to entrepreneurship and charity later in life. Shaw was pivotal to the early history of south Orange County, moving to La Verne, where she died, five years ago.
Born Kathrine Dana in Mesa, Arizona, on April 28, 1921, Shaw was born to be a leader and businesswoman, said her daughter, Cynthia Bowers. As a child, she moved to California with her widowed mother and eventually was adopted by her uncle, Ilif Ross Dana.
“Instead of choosing a writing career like her family wanted,” said Bowers, “she chose to pursue a life in acting which she thought would be the solution to save her mother, siblings and herself from abject poverty.”
In her 20s, Shaw started Catherine Coleman’s Charm School, an etiquette school, while also working on the production of “The Drunkard,” a popular temperance play, in Los Angeles. There, she sold tickets for the show, acted when needed and handled the show’s promotion to the community, starting her work as a publicist.
Through the theater company, Shaw met Walter Knott, owner of Knott’s Berry Farm, who recognized her publicity skills and allowed her to lease the Bird Cage Theatre on his property. There, she produced and performed plays such as “The Streets of New York” and “Riverboat Revenge,” drawing crowds to the theater and Old MacDonald’s Farm, a petting zoo on the Knott’s property.
It was at the Old MacDonald’s Farm where she was introduced to Fulton Shaw. They married in 1959 and remained together for 40 years until his death in 1999.
Together, the couple opened a marionette stage in Mission Viejo, Bowers said, and devoted their…
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