Shannon (Higgins) Sharkey was born on February 22, 1981 at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC.  At the time, her father, Jim Higgins, was an FBI agent assigned to the DC field office and her mother, Sally, quit her job on Capitol Hill to stay home with Shannon who, 17 months later, was joined by her little sister Paige. Paige became her best friend and main playmate during her childhood. The Higgins lived in Burke, Virginia, for the first two and a half years of Shannon’s life, after which Jim was transferred to the FBI’s Denver Field Office.  The family found the ideal neighborhood in Littleton (Governor’s Ranch) to raise their two daughters.  In 1985, younger (and no longer little) brother, Patrick, arrived to complete their family.  Shannon was blessed to grow up in a very loving home and was happiest playing with the gazillion children on South Everett Street. Roller skating, riding her bike, going to the pool, climbing on the backyard monkey bars, and playing with American Girl dolls occupied her time.  She attended Governor’s Ranch Elementary School through 2nd grade. In 1989, her dad was transferred back to DC.

Moving to a suburb in Virginia called Montclair, Shannon went to elementary and middle school there.  She loved gymnastics and putting on “shows” involving lip-syncing to Debbie Gibson and the New Kids on the Block.  Shannon was typically the oldest and almost always the “leader” while directing friends and cousins to perform in her productions. Shannon absolutely adored her grandparents, Jim Sr. and Mary Higgins.  She loved the long rainy drives from DC to Philadelphia to see them. Shannon’s life near DC kindled a love affair with the history of the United States in general, and early American history specifically.  She spent her family vacations discovering historic sites but always with an amusement park (bribe) planned for the finale. 

In 1994, the FBI Denver Field office again called Jim out to Colorado, so the family chose to return to Governors Ranch, the suburban paradise they had discovered years earlier.  Shannon attended St. Mary’s middle school followed by graduation from Mullen High School in 1999. She became an enthusiastic and strong student, with a particular affinity for writing and history. She also developed a passion for the Colorado Avalanche hockey team and an interest in meteorology during those years.

Shannon attended the University of Kansas for a year and a half, after which she transferred to CU- Boulder. The return to Colorado was precipitated by a chance encounter with a Colorado School of Mines engineering student who had been running too many miles and eating too few sandwiches.  That night Shannon called her Mom and said she had met some guy named “Sharkey” and he was the “THE ONE”.  Mike made a similar call to his Mom.

From that night on, Mike and Shannon have been inseparable.  They somehow made it through one semester of Shannon returning to KU, then enjoyed the remaining years of college within driving/bus distance of each other.  Mike and Shannon loved to go rollerblading on the Boulder Creek Path followed by getting dinner at Silvermine Subs.  Shannon would take the bus down to Golden most weekends and spend the time doing college kid things like having parties, riding motorcycles or cliff jumping into lakes.  Shannon graduated with a degree in Journalism from CU in 2003.

After college, Mike and Shannon backpacked through Europe for a month, on a meticulously planned (pre-smart phone) trip.  Shannon planned every stop, train transfer and tour down to the minute, and other than running completely, 100% out of money in Ireland with 2 days to go, it went off without a hitch.  The best sleep they both ever had was in Holy Head, Wales after staying up for 48 hours in Paris and taking the Channel Tunnel back to the UK.  Shannon accepted Mike’s marriage proposal in Prague right before that 48 hour Paris “marathon”.

They were married on July 24, 2004 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver.  After a honeymoon in Maui and Kauai, they rented an apartment right next to Coors Field and spent a year enjoying urban living.  Shannon first worked as a legal assistant; she was quickly promoted to paralegal, where she was granted access to paid vacation!  They celebrated their first Christmas and started a tradition of having a miniature Christmas tree named after a US President.  The first miniature tree was named “Truman the Tree”.

In 2005, Mike and Shannon embarked on the adventure of a “dirt start” condo, meaning that they got to see it being constructed and learned all about how the “starting at” price point means “more expensive than you planned for”.  They moved to the Village of Five Parks in Arvada in 2005.  During this time, Mike and Shannon were able to travel both domestically and internationally.  Shannon was employed as an event planner at Table Mountain in Golden but eventually decided to pursue a Masters degree in Early American History.

Just as Shannon was rounding out her graduate studies, God decided to bless Mike and Shannon with their first child, Truman James.  The pregnancy was complicated, and Truman was born almost 6 weeks early. A little boy has never been more adored by his mother.  Somehow Shannon was able to write her thesis and prepare for her oral examinations to attain her master’s degree during the first years of Truman’s life.  Her thesis “Taverns of Early America” was recognized as one of the top works to ever come out of the CU Denver history masters programs.  God became concerned that Mike and Shannon had too much spare time on their hands, and sent them another gift in the form of Caroline Alice Sharkey in 2012.   

An exciting job opportunity to join aerospace startup FIRST RF shifted Mike’s employment from Ball Aerospace in Westminster to Boulder, and after a winter of near misses on Highway 93, the decision to relocate north was made.  Shannon and Mike struck gold by moving into McKay Landing in 2014.  What Governors Ranch was in the 1980’s & 1990’s, Waterside Lane in McKay Landing was in 2014.  Kids, great adults and everything a young family could need or want was right there.  Shannon and Mike made great friends all along the street and spend most days only vaguely knowing the location of their children.  Shannon developed a beautiful network of other young moms. In fact, she felt so much Mom Power, that a third Sharkey child came into the world in 2015 when Colette Laughlin joined the family.  After Colette’s birth, Shannon’s days were very full – she ran the entire household, planned everything domestic and social, shuttled the kids to their various extracurriculars and was involved in many school activities (times three) acting as room mother and default block Mom to the (in)famous 10+ kid strong mobile party/riot known as the “Waterside Wolfpack”.  Shannon developed beautiful friendships in Broomfield and enjoyed adventures of every sort with her new BFFs, many of whom also happened to be moms to the Wolfpack.  Shannon was a master at birthdays and holidays – always making sure each occasion had a true sense of magic and mystery, and all those involved felt special.  She still somehow found time to read dense and complex material voraciously and hold a monthly book club “date” with her Dad.  One year, she decided to get through 52 books, just to see if she could.  Shannon was also an excellent runner who could finish in the money at large races ranging from 5K to the Marathon. 

Shannon’s cancer journey was the hardest thing that the family has ever faced.  Fortunately, she was able to seek treatment at CU Anschutz Medical Center, one of the few hospitals in the nation equipped to treat synovial sarcoma.  Despite a major surgery immediately followed by intensive impatient chemotherapy, Shannon “stomped” her therapy in the words of her oncologist.  She was not allowed to leave the hospital for 7 days at a time for five, three-week rounds of chemo and she even printed out a picture of sub 2-hour marathoner Eliud Kipchoge, taped it to her chemo drip pole and RAN miles during each cycle on the second floor at Anschutz.  The nurses on the oncology floor at Anschutz all fell in love with Shannon and have continued to support the Sharkey’s during subsequent chapters of the journey.  After a recurrence, Shannon was a participant in a critical SPEAR-T Phase II Immunotherapy trial, which is eventually expected to provide more durable therapies for sarcoma.  Shannon and her family temporarily relocated to MD Anderson in Houston to seek additional treatment, but her body never really recovered from earlier treatments for additional steps to be taken.  The Sharkey family returned to Broomfield in time for Shannon to complete her cancer journey in her home at sunrise on Friday July 16th.

Shannon’s life was not as long as any of us wanted, but it was unquestionably a beautiful one.  To meet Shannon, sometimes just once, was to love her.  She was a wellspring of joy and positive energy.  She worked hard to put others at ease and not pretend everything was “perfect” because she thought perfect was boring and false.  She was the center of the Sharkey family, as both a great Mom and wife.  She was an incredible daughter, sibling and friend.  She gave and received so much love during her life.  Shannon’s main goals in life were to walk with God and raise a beautiful family.  Her three precious children have been beyond brave and strong during the journey and are a testament of the love they felt, and continue to feel, from Shannon.  The Sharkey’s feel God’s love working through all of our amazing family, friends and co-workers as we transition into the next chapter of life.