Shannon Hilgart

1959 - 2020

Shannon Hilgart FORT WORTH -- Shannon Hilgart, beloved sister, aunt, cousin, friend and mentor, died peacefully Friday, May 8, 2020, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. CELEBRATION OF LIFE: will be held at a future date when it is safe to travel and gather. MEMORIALS: If you would like to make a memorial gift, please direct it to AIDS Outreach Center, 400 N Beach St, Fort Worth, Texas 76111. Shannon was born Oct. 29, 1959, to the late Virginia Dell and Richard James Hilgart on Stewart Air Force Base in Smyrna, Tennessee. After her father died when Shannon was eight years old, she moved with her family to live with her grandparents in Marietta, Oklahoma, a place she would thereafter refer to as her roots. Her middle and high school years were spent in Hurst, Texas where she graduated from L.D. Bell High School and made lifelong friends with whom she continued to spend time and cherished until the end of her life. Shannon, who believed fervently that the most vulnerable in our society are worthy of respect and opportunity, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, and spent her early career working on issues of poverty and mental health. But it was in the early 1990s, when she lost her cousin and a close friend to AIDS, that she began her life's work of preventing HIV/AIDS and supporting those with or at risk of HIV. Shannon started at AIDS Outreach Center in 1996 as a Case Manager and held positions of increasing responsibility until 2013 when she was named Executive Director, a position she held until her death. Shannon loved travel and adventure, and visited most countries in Europe, Asia and South America. She spent the preponderance of her time traveling alone in the more rural parts of a country, finding wonder and beauty in the richness of people, culture and places. Through her love of music of all genres, Shannon made many of the best friends in her life. She was a passionate, wise, generous and joyous person who leaves behind a wide and diverse group of family and friends who are better and happier for having known her. SURVIVORS: Sister, Laura Hilgart; brother, Jim Hilgart; nephews, Sam Betsill and JJ Hilgart; niece, Tricia Hilgart; and cousins, Julie, Charlie, Matthew, Emily and Poppy White.