He graduated with high honors from Woodberry Forest, where he wrestled, played soccer and tennis, and wrote for The Oracle. At Princeton, Shack majored in history, rowed lightweight crew, was active on The Daily Princetonian, and graduated with honors. Shack, a member of Cap and Gown, lived there senior year as its secretary-treasurer after rooming with Peter Fitzpatrick for three years, including two years in Witherspoon Heights with a group that remained his lifelong friends.
After Princeton, Shack served as a naval officer on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean and then graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law. Until his accident, Shack practiced law in Orange and Culpeper, Va., for a wide range of individuals, governmental entities, schools, and nonprofits, while also serving for 42 years as the first county attorney for Madison County.
Shack’s out-of-office life included multiple terms as chairman of the board of a local K-8 school, officer of the local medical aid fund, and trustee of the Shenandoah National Park Trust, as well as international whitewater paddling, hiking, biking, and horseback riding.
The class extends its sympathies to his wife, Jane; and their son and grandson.