Cleona Galbraith Shaver, wife of Charles B Shaver, was the only daughter born to the union of James Smith and Kathryn Hughes Galbraith. She was born in Blair County and was of Scotch-Irish descent, her ancestry dating back prior to 1500. A sketch of the Galbraith lineage is contained [elsewhere, and can be reached by the link below].

On her mother's side, the Hughes family history is recorded in the early days of the province of Pennsylvania. Settling in Bedford and Huntingdon counties, prior to their erection, they were extensive farmers, a great grandfather having a large acreage in Huntingdon County. When Blair County was erected, in 1846, from Huntingdon County, the Hughes the Hughes farmlands were carried over into the father county. Cleona's grandfather was a successful farmer in the fertile Bald Eagle Valley, his farm lying just northeast of the present town of Tyrone. The later day Hughes branched out from farming to business enterprise and gained considerable prosperity, her Uncle Isaac Hughes being considered, at the time of his death early in 1900, one of the richest men in Central Pennsylvania.

Mrs Shaver, as a young girl, was a brilliant student and entered the Altoona High School, at an unusually early age. But this education was interrupted when her parents moved to the Pittsburgh district where her father became identified with the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, in Wilmerding.

After moving to Pittsburgh she completed a course in business training and became employed as a secretary to a prominent Pennsylvania railroad executive, with offices in Union Station, Pittsburgh. She was held in high esteem as an efficient secretary and her employer regretted losing her when she resigned to marry the writer who, then, resided in Altoona, Pa.

Prior to her marriage she was active in the work of the Eastern Star and assisted in organizing a chapter of the Wimadisis (?) Order. An intelligent, refined and accomplished person, her affluence was instrumental in shaping the ambitions of her children, and to the mother alone belongs the credit for guiding the children to their goals in life. And while some plans and suggestions may have flown into space, and if her thoughts and anxieties have not been realized, she has consolation in the fact that those of her children who have been spared to her are engaged in the pursuit of life and are near to her to watch over her declining years.

It could be possible that, in guiding the children through childhood, her thoughts and ambitions may have been influenced by the successful career and the prominence gained by her brother, Dr John H Galbraith, whose skill as a surgeon in the practice of Orthopedics made him an outstanding member of the Central Pennsylvania Medical Association.
As a meticulous housekeeper she arranged an attractive and comfortable home for family and with the inherited skill plus her genius in the culinary arts she could prepare a cuisine that would delight the most critical epicure.

On October 14, 1908 she was married to Charles Shaver, to which union seven children were born, two of whom died in early childhood, Katherine Elizabeth, aged 6 years and Martha Jane, aged 3 1/2 years. With such excellent qualities in a mother she guided and influenced the five remaining children to their goals in professional fields as follows: John Charles Shaver, PhD, James Walter Shaver, PhG, J Elizabeth (Betty) Shaver, RN, Hayward Chester Shaver, artisan, and Verne Clifford Shaver, PhD.

All four sons served their country in the second World War, and it is reasonable to believe that the worry and nervous tension upon her during the absence of the sons, made an impression upon her health. Several years before, she had undergone a major operation during which the thread of life was almost severed, and which, along with several hospital visits for minor surgery, later evidently hastened the natural decline of her health. The final misfortune was an attack of phlebitis, resulting in the curtailment, to some extent, of her ambulatory powers. Apparently displaying excellent health, she deceives her age by her activity, although her excursions away from home are confined to transportation in her daughter's auto.

She is a person of forceful character, an intelligent conversationalist, an efficient homemaker, a competent, but stern leader and with these accomplishments she would have been a valuable asset to her community in civic and other activities, but home duties and physical misfortunes prevented her participation. Her greatest pleasure is in visiting her married children and her grandchildren, and she is overjoyed when they drop in to pay her homage. When alone at home she derives pleasure and relaxation with her two television sets and in her telephone conversations with her friends, many of whom, also friends of the children, stop and cheer her as she unnoticeably grows older.

On the Galbraith heritage

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