Obituary of Shannon Schimsa

Mary Shannon Schimsa (nee Butler) was born January 3rd, 1973, in Belleville, Illinois to William Butler and Patricia Butler Saavedra (nee Kernan).  She spent the first years of her life being babysat by her dad’s fraternity brothers at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo, while her parents worked to build a life for their young family. As a young person, she was an athlete and known for her sense of humor and beautiful singing voice. She was a natural mama bear; long before she had her daughter, Shannon prided herself on taking care of friends and family. As she got older, Shannon became a talented cook and loved feeding people. She had a successful career with inside sales for many years, but that was inconsequential compared to how much she enjoyed laughing with and feeding her tribe on the weekends and evenings, usually by a river somewhere. The fun of laughing with her is hard to describe- getting a ‘fit of the giggles’ was normal around Shannon.

Shannon was a daughter, a sister, a niece, a cousin, an aunt, and a friend, but the most important role to her by far was that of a mother to Katie Elizabeth Schimsa. Without a doubt, the best years of her life were spent loving Katie in Villa Ridge, Mo. She found particular joy in sharing her love for St. Louis with Katie, taking her to landmarks like Forest Park, Soulard Market, the Science Center and the Magic House. Katie was her sidekick. Shannon was so proud of her daughter’s intelligence, humor, kindness and beauty, and anyone who knew her knew of her love for her daughter.

Shannon moved to New Mexico in 2015. Her last years in New Mexico did not go as planned, but prior to that she went on a lot of adventures. She spent time with family, took her daughter to the International Balloon Fiesta, explored every nook and cranny of her new state (the hot springs were a favorite), dabbled in backpacking, and even tried her hand at van living for a while, where she traveled from New Mexico to the American Deep South and back.

It breaks our hearts that her adventures in life and motherhood have come to an end, but we know she is at peace now.

A small, private memorial will be held when circumstances allow.

In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting her daughter Katie in her next steps. Katie has made plans to move out on her own and attend EMT school in January. Any support during this difficult time would help her reach her goals and that is what Shannon always wanted for her. See link below.

https://gofund.me/5bcc5438