Two women cut from the same cloth

Two years apart — almost to the day — eastern New Mexico lost two women who might well be the last of their breed.

Marie Roberson of Portales died Jan. 14 at age 91; Tillie Shaw of Clovis passed on Jan. 18, 2017, at age 99.

Here’s one way I’d heard them described: Roberson was Roosevelt County’s Tillie Shaw, and Shaw was Curry County’s Marie Roberson.

Had I been making the journey west 200 years ago, they are two women I’d have wanted on my wagon train.

Marie Roberson and Tillie Shaw both worked almost until the ends of their lives — Roberson behind the desk at Graham Abstract in Portales for more than half a century, and Shaw for decades as chief executive officer for the Clovis Board of Realtors and numerous terms as Curry County’s first female treasurer.

They both grew up in smaller communities in our area. Roberson graduated as a 16-year-old from Elida High School in 1943. Shaw earned her diploma from Floyd High School and her nickname — “Tillie the Toiler” — from an early job at the Melrose grain elevator.

My first thought when I heard last week that Roberson had died was that a library’s worth of information about our county, our land, our families, and our history was gone. While I never met Shaw, I understand the same was true about her.

Before smart technology and search engines were even a consideration, Roberson and Shaw were living, breathing encyclopedias of knowledge about our communities, filled with facts and figures they could access with lightning speed from their vast internal databases.

Both were lifelong learners. Neither was daunted by modern technology.

Roberson even returned to college and completed a bachelor’s degree — summa cum laude, at that — at the age of 75. She told a reporter in 2013 that the best change she’d seen in her lifetime was going from a typewriter to a computer.

There are plenty more reasons I’d want these ladies on my wagon train. Roberson was an accomplished seamstress and successful gardener; Shaw was famous for her rum cakes and peanut brittle. We’d always have clothing and never go hungry.

And we would have had fun. Marie Roberson always made me smile. I’m told Tillie Shaw did the same for the many, many folks she encountered in her almost-century of life.

Marie Roberson and Tillie Shaw were cut from the same piece of cloth. It had magical properties: Fine as silk, tough as canvas, woven to last.

We sure could use more bolts of that good fabric. If you find any, buy me a few yards, and I’ll save you a seat on my wagon.

Betty Williamson is grateful that her wagon is only imaginary. Reach her at:

[email protected]