Business Community

Obituary: Dick Shaw, Gig Harbor business figure and owner of Pleasurecraft Marina

Richard Henry “Dick” Shaw, owner of the Pleasurecraft Marina and a prominent Gig Harbor businessman for decades, died in Richland on Oct. 27. He was 84 years old. 

Gig Harbor business leader

Shaw was a business leader in the Tacoma area since the 1960s, according to an obituary published by the Kitsap Sun newspaper of Bremerton. He was a founder and board chairman of the Bank of Tacoma before he reached the age of 30. 

Richard Shaw

Shaw later served on the boards of directors of Property Holding and Development and at the Foss Waterway Seaport.

The obituary notes that Shaw was “heavily invested in Gig Harbor, where he loved to spend time on his boat talking to friends and watching the activities on the water from his own marina, Pleasurecraft.” Shaw was a strong supporter of the Gig Harbor Film Festival, among other causes. 

Pleasurecraft is located adjacent to Jerisich Dock and Skansie Brothers Park in downtown Gig Harbor. In what turned out to be one of his final major projects, Shaw was planning to revamp the marina and build a restaurant and wine bar at Pleasurecraft.  

Passion for wine

Wine was a passion of Shaw and his wife, Wendy. An obituary in Washington Wine Report called Shaw one of the state’s largest grape growers. The Tri-city Herald called Shaw a pioneer of the Washington wine industry. 

Shaw entered the grape-growing business in 1981, planting a 100-acre vineyard. The enterprise grew to a giant that farms more than 3,500 acres today, according to the Washington Wine Report, and works with more than 100 wineries. 

“Dick survived to see the end of the 2023 grape harvest,” notes the Kitsap Sun obituary, written by Shaw’s family. 

Along with Pleasurecraft Marina and extensive vineyard holdings, Shaw owned his own island, which the obituary called his “life-long dream.” Shaw Island is in Bremerton’s Phinney Bay, near the Bremerton Yacht Club.  

 ‘A force of nature’

Dick Shaw was born June 10, 1939, in Tacoma to Henry and Pearl Shaw. The 1957 graduate of Lincoln High attended the University of Puget Sound for several years. 

“He was a force of nature always looking for the next deal. He touched so many lives and mentored so many people,” according to the family’s obituary. “His legacy will live on forever. You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.”

Survivors include his wife, Wendy; son, Erik; daughters, daughters, Teri Lynn Hurlbut (John) and Michelle; brother, Craig; nephew, Andy; nieces, Sandra and Cindy; and grandchildren, Johnathon, Kyley, and Ricky. 

Funeral services were Nov. 6 at Mountain View Cemetery in Lakewood.