Shannon Cloward

Shannon Wilson Cloward
1961 ~ 2011
Shannon Mary Wilson Cloward, our beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, daughter, and friend passed away peacefully on December 2, 2011 surrounded by family after her courageous battle with cancer. She was 50 years old.
Shannon was the oldest of six children born in Burlington, Washington June 25, 1961 to Kirk and Paula Wilson. She attended Burlington-Edison High School, where she was Student-body Vice-President her junior year and President her senior year. She also excelled in tennis, basketball and debate. Due to her leadership skills, she was one of two people selected from the state of Washington to attend a student government seminar in Washington D.C. She then went to Brigham Young University where she graduated with a Bachelors Degree in history. There she met and was sealed to Randy Cloward in the Seattle Temple. They had 5 wonderful children together. Randy and Shannon continued to be close friends throughout the years despite divorcing.
Shannon always lived life to the fullest. Her battle with breast cancer began when she was 35 years old but never slowed her down. Tennis, marathons, triathlons, hikes, BYU sports, Jazz basketball, Wilson family holiday parties, and her job she loved at Jordan Valley School working in Special Education were just some of the activities that enriched her life up to the end. She was an incredible and devoted mother to her children and was compassionately devoted to taking care of her special needs son Kevin, who brought her much joy and fulfillment.
A faithful, devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she spent her life in the service of her faith and others. She touched and inspired so many lives as she served and loved those with whom she came in contact. She was a natural leader, serving in many positions of leadership throughout her life.
Shannon is survived by many family members that will miss her greatly, her five children: Amy (Adam) Sybrowsky, Alison, Paul (currently serving an LDS mission in Scotland), Kevin, and T.J,; her parents - Kirk and Paula; her brothers and sisters - Craig (Cari) Wilson, Holly (Steve) Crandall, Wendy (Calvin) Hunter, Kari (Eric) Hull, Keith (Lynsi) Wilson; many nephews and nieces; and her loving grandchild, Ava.
Many have been touched and influenced for good by Shannon. She was constantly looking out for those who needed a friend or a place for a holiday dinner.
She would want to thank those who cared for her over the years...

 

One of the memories I'll always have of Shannon was her beauiful talk she gave at KK's baptism this past June as she shared her amazing testimony of the Gospel. I have to say, there was no one quite like Shannon! Shannon was always such an amazing example to me and to everyone around her! Despite many challenges in her life, she was always positive, happy, and lived life to it's fullest! I remember 12 years ago when Keith and I were dating, being a bit nervous to meet Shannon. I had heard that Shannon would be the one who would have the strongest opinion on who Keith was serious with. (luckily I passed!) It's funny to think now that I was nervous about meeting Shannon... little did I know at that time, but I would be meeting someone that I would come to admire maybe more than anyone I've ever met. When I think of Shannon, some of the words that come to mind are faith, endurance, strength, love, service, energy, thoughtfulness, and testimony. On birthday's our kids (and Keith and I) were always surprised by birthday letters in the mailbox with birthday $$$ from Shannon. I was always impressed with her thoughtfulness! The past few months since living in Utah, and when Shannon was feeling well, she would pop in and say hello and bring her bag of goodies. Each of the kids were able to pick something out of a bag she carried around filled with fun things for the kids! As you can tell Shannon was one of a kind! The funeral on Saturday was a perfect tribute to Shannon! The words of her life were inspiring and I'm sure left everyone in the room wanting to be a better person and be more like Shannon. I feel so blessed to be part of the Wilson family! The Wilsons (every last one of them!) have such incredible strength and faith! I am so grateful to have married into such a wonderful family! We will all miss Shannon so much, thankfully we know that we will see her again!