As Endicott Mourns ‘Our Country Hearts’ Founder Ed Shaw, a Beautiful New Chapter Begins

Every single time you walk through the doors of Our Country Hearts in Endicott, your senses know exactly where you are. The smell of fresh coffee and home cooking hits your nose, laughter bounces between tables, and you can easily lose an hour or so just wandering through rooms filled with handcrafted furniture and colorful local art.

For decades, right in the middle of it all, there was Ed Shaw.

Smiling. Talking. Asking questions. Ed had a rare, undeniable gift: he made you feel like you mattered the exact second you walked into his world.

Now, the Southern Tier is grieving the loss of the man who built that beautiful feeling from the ground up. Ed passed away on May 4 at the age of 82. But while the community mourns this wonderful man, his business proudly remains open, carrying his spirit forward.

In fact, there is one breathtaking, bittersweet detail to his passing that shows his legacy is only just beginning.

On the exact same day Ed passed away, his first grandson, Copper, was born. In the very middle of unimaginable grief came new life, new hope, and a new generation to carry Ed’s beautiful spirit into the future.

An Antidote to the Corporate World (That Lives On Today)

Ed’s story didn't start in a retail shop. He actually spent over two decades working in highly technical roles at IBM in Endicott. He took immense pride in his work, but as he watched corporate downsizing and restructuring unfold around him, something shifted.

Small business became more than a career change for Ed; it became a personal mission.

He didn’t want to build a corporate empire; he wanted to build an antidote to it. He envisioned a place where employees felt valued, and where customers were treated like friends instead of a transaction on a spreadsheet.

Ed brought the lessons of his childhood, growing up in a Pennsylvania stone house his father built by hand, and poured them directly into the log cabin walls of Our Country Hearts. Because of him, it never felt like a place where you just spent money. It felt warm and comforting, like home.

And that is exactly how his family is keeping it. Today, his son Jason and the rest of the family are ensuring that the restaurant, gift shop, and furniture store continue to serve the Southern Tier with the exact same warmth Ed championed.

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How We Can Keep Ed’s Spirit Alive

As the Shaw family navigates this incredibly tender time of both mourning a father and celebrating a newborn, they have asked the community to keep Jason, Emily, and baby Copper in our thoughts and prayers.

If you would like to say a final goodbye to the man who gave this community so much, here are the details for his services:

• Visiting Hours: Tuesday, May 26, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Location: Allen Memorial Home in Endicott.
• In Lieu of Flowers: The family asks that donations be made to the Southern Tier Land Conservancy, a cause that meant the world to Ed. If you'd like to mail a donation, it can be sent to P.O. Box 1112, Vestal, NY 13850.

Truly, the best way to honor Ed Shaw is simple:

Stop by Our Country Hearts. Have a meal in the restaurant, browse the store and the furniture, and say hello to the staff. Take a little extra time to actually talk to the person behind the counter. Ed really would have loved that.