On Sunday we held a Celebration of Life service for Shannon with over 250 people attending. This was a wonderful gathering of friends and family to reflect, remember, and celebrate the work and life of this wonderful person. In the recent service, many friends shared their bittersweet memories of Shannon. A tried and true friend. An empathetic listener. The wittiest person you will ever meet. An optimist. As King County Executive Ron Sims said, "A singular wave, a welcome breeze, a shooting star."
The event this past Sunday was really a very heartfelt and moving celebration of Shannon’s all too short life.
The program was incredibly moving and featured music (including John Prine’s "Angel From Montgomery"). Speakers from the Northwest and Ohio touched on the diverse aspects of Shannon’s life; her commitment to the environment and passion for the earth, her love of her friends and family, her book club, her tremendous drive and passion, and her athletic endeavors.
We are really not able to convey the power of what everybody said or the love and compassion that was in the room. We want to share with you a PDF of the program from the event and also to encourage you to watch the PowerPoint slideshow that was part of the service. The program also lists opportunities for those that may be interested in making a contribution to some things that Shannon held most dear and worked to promote. The slideshow is linked through the Cascade Chapter’s webpage.
http://cascade.sierraclub.org/node/1709
Our deepest appreciation and thanks go out to all of you for the love and support you have shown through this time of tremendous sadness and grief for those of us in the Northwest Region and elsewhere who worked with and were friends and family of Shannon. We know that the Sierra Club is not just a job or a place of employment, but it is more like a family or a tribe and we mourn with all of you the loss of one of our special, committed, and vibrant compatriots.
We have been able to do a lot of sharing of Shannon stories over the past few days with her friends in the Northwest and her family from back east.
We have been reminded of what a wonderful woman we had the pleasure of working with. We’ve learned that her love of nature and deep appreciation of the planet came from early childhood experiences and that she has always wanted to help others gain that appreciation. We are honored that she chose to carry out that passion through the Sierra Club.
We were lucky to organize alongside and with Shannon to watch her share her commitment and passion with volunteers young and old. She relished in listening and learning their stories. Shannon developed true friendships not just an expedited relationship for the sake of a campaign.
Shannon didn’t just talk about her beliefs she lived them and all of us have been touched by this. She set very high standards with regards to walking our talk. Every time we bring the canvas bag to the store, every time we buy organic, every time we walk, run, bike, or use transit instead of drive we will be paying tribute to the way Shannon lived her commitment to the earth.
We share with all of you a tremendous sense of loss and grief and encourage you all to carry on Shannon’s ideals and joy in the work that we do.
The Northwest Sierra Club Staff and Volunteers
