Augusta, Maine School Receives Whopping $2.9 Million Gift From Former Student

rowing up, Martha Brenda Shaw walked the halls of St. Mary School. That very school then later merged with St. Augustine in 2007 to become today’s St. Michael School in Augusta.

According to the Kennebec Journal, to everyone who knew her, Brenda wasn’t just a familiar face. She was a gentle, thoughtful soul who listened deeply, asked meaningful questions, and carried herself with quiet grace.

Brenda was devoted to her faith. Even when her health made regular church attendance difficult, the parish ensured she still received the Eucharist at home. That same lifelong faith is now creating a powerful legacy.

St. Michael School has announced that Shaw, who passed away in August, has posthumously donated $2.9 million to support local children seeking a Catholic education. The extraordinary gift will establish a permanent endowment in her name to provide tuition assistance for families in need.

“I didn’t know her personally, but everyone who did said she was a lovely human being,” said Principal Alanna Stevenson. “She worked incredibly hard and saved her money for this purpose. It’s amazing.”

The KJ reported that the school, which currently enrolls 188 students from Pre-K through eighth grade, relies largely on tuition, set at $6,900 per year, to cover salaries, textbooks and operating costs. While donations are not unusual, a gift of this size is unprecedented.

Stevenson says she hopes the new endowment helps families who assumed St. Michael’s was out of reach. “Now that people know these funds are available,” she said, “maybe it opens the door for students who never thought this could be a possibility.”

Shaw’s life reflected that same quiet determination. According to her longtime friend and estate attorney Joe O’Donnell, she spent decades working for New England Telephone and AT&T as a telephone operator, often picking up extra shifts at Damon’s Market and Whippers Pizza.

The paper explained that she loved swimming in China Lake and tending her garden, passions she continued even after losing a leg to cancer. “It didn’t slow her down at all,” O’Donnell said. “She’d crawl through her garden and still swam.”

Brenda never married and had no children of her own, but she surrounded herself with close friends who helped her stay independent. Her best friend, Seth Green, lived with her for a time before he passed away. Through it all, her church remained a constant.

And though she wasn’t heavily involved with the school in her later years, she knew exactly what she wanted her legacy to be.

“She wanted to give kids the chance she had — a Catholic education for those who couldn’t otherwise afford it,” O’Donnell said. “That was the purpose of her gift.”