Shawna Marie Pettit

Shawna was born in Fort Worth in 1982. She spent part of her childhood in the town of Memphis in the Texas panhandle and in the southeast Texas town of Vidor before returning to the Fort Worth area. As a child and adult, she was an active, strong-willed and independent person with a winning personality who easily made friends wherever she went. Shawna had a passion for animals and spent one summer as a “Volunteen” at the Fort Worth Zoo. At the age of 14 she spent three weeks in New Zealand and Australia as a student ambassador for the People to People Student Ambassador Program. A couple of highlights were getting to hold a Koala and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. Her hobbies were coloring and putting puzzles together. She was very good at both.

Shawna graduated Cum Laude from Richland High School in 2000. She later became a licensed massage therapist.

Shawna loved life and people. She especially loved her family. Shawna loved being a mom to her amazing daughter, Alexis. She was always very proud of her little brother Johnathan and his accomplishments. She enjoyed spending time with her cousins; Corey Pettit, Eanen Cohn, Rachel Knight, Stephanie Bartlett, Beth Menchaca, Kelly Neidholt, Wyndy Marthinussen, Mino Diaz and Cheyenne Diaz. She was active in her local church and a devout Christian. She never wavered in her faith during all the ups and downs of her life and especially during her illness.

The family would like to thank her caregivers, Lisa, Sarah and Judy for the wonderful love and care they provided Shawna during the last months of her life.

Shawna is survived by her daughter, Alexis Nicole Sislofsky, her parents Robert and Melissa Pettit, her brother and sister-in-law Johnathan Pettit and Beth Andre-Pettit, her aunts and uncles Mike and Elaine Pettit, Tracy and Dean Neidholt, Steve Pettit and Mike Diaz, her nine cousins, her great-aunts Gwen West Neves and Della Thompson Moreland and many other family and friends.

She is predeceased by her grandparents, Bob and Gloria Pettit and Johnny and Glenda Benton and her aunt Becky Diaz.

A Celebration of Life service is scheduled for Saturday, February 7th, 2026, at 10:00am with a reception to follow. Dean Neidholt will officiate. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Shawna’s life.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation be made to the Glioblastoma Foundation, Glioblastoma Research Organization, or the Glioblastoma Support Network.