Shawn Lewis Hathcock

Shawn Lewis Hathcock died on October 7, 2017 at the age of 26. He was born in Lakeside, AZ on August 6, 1991 to Jason and Kirsten Hathcock. Shawn is survived by his mother Kirsten, grandparents Sharyn Hathcock, Ron Jackson, Anastasia Keller and Bill Potter, and many loving extended family members. He is preceded in death by his father, Jason, and his grandfather, Jay Hathcock.

Kirsten and Shawn shared a strong and loving bond during his life that will continue forever.

Shawn took a summer camp at Valley Youth Theater in 2004 and he was hooked! Shawn developed his amazing talent there and sang and danced in numerous plays and musicals. In 2008, he was awarded Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical by the National Youth Theater for his performance as Baker in Into the Woods at Greasepaint Youtheatre. During this journey, he also found a love of writing and composing and had composed Capri: A New Musical, a loosely based memoir. He was honored to perform a reading of this musical at Valley Youth Theater on January 6, 2017. Shawn’s art is his legacy.

Recently, Shawn had returned to the University of Arizona to continue working towards achieving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Music.

Shawn was a lover of love. A giver. A dancer. An eloquent romantic. He was known for giving the best hugs. He was passionate, opinionated and a fierce debater. So stubborn! So sure he was right! And so sweet. When he turned his blue eyes on you and smiled, you might feel as though you were the most important person in the world...because, to him, in that moment, you were.

Shawn succumbed to a quiet insidious disease: Mental Illness. Although he lost his battle with this disease, we want to remember Shawn for the light he brought to this world during his short stay. All of Shawn’s family and friends feel very fortunate to have shared their life with a wonderful son, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, and society member. He will be greatly missed and never forgotten.

A celebration of Shawn’s life will be held Sunday, October 22, 2017, at 3:00pm at Desert Breeze Community Church, 17600 North Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix, Arizona 85053. In lieu of flowers, the family ask that donations are made in Shawn’s name to Valley Youth Theater https://www.vyt.com/support/donate-now/ or https://mentalillnesspolicy.org/

Arrangements under the direction of Advantage Colonial Mortuary, Phoenix, AZ.