Shari Swofford Rhodes

Santa Fe, N.M. - Shari Swofford Rhodes, 71, passed away Sunday, December 20, 2009, at Christus St. Vincent's Hospital in Santa Fe, N.M., after a long struggle with cancer. She will be brought home to Paris, Texas, for a private burial at Evergreen Cemetery beside her daughter, Stacy Rhodes Resch, who died in 1988. A celebration of Shari's life will be held at a later date to be announced.
Shari worked for over 30 years in the film industry as a casting director, casting such movies as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Silverado,Tender Mercie, and Terms of Endearment. She had been working in Albuquerque, N.M., in the area of television, casting Crash, Breaking Bad and In Plain Sight. She was especially proud of being able to co-produce the movie, Man in the Moon, which was written by her dear friend, Jenny Wingfield.
She was preceded in death by her father, Jewell Doyle Swofford; her brother, Timothy Clark Swofford; and her sister, Robin Swofford Engels; as well as her daughter, Stacy.
She is survived by her mother, Elsie Julian of Paris, Texas; son, Kenneth Doyle Rhodes of Los Angeles, Calif.; sisters, Phalia Blassingame and husband, Jim, of Paris, Texas, and Judy Young and husband, Charles, of Athens, Ga.; sister, Elyn Kahn and husband, Roger, of White, Ga.; brother, Mark Swofford and wife, Deborah, of Portland, Ore.; nieces, Susan Young of Santa Fe, N.M., and Jennifer Walsh of Athens, Ga.; and nephews, Wade Blassingame and Mark Blassingame and wife, Jackie, of Paris, Texas; brother-in-law, Gene Engels of Sussex, N.J.; and nephews, Ryan, Wade and Jay Engels of Ithaca, N.Y., and Sussex, N.J.; three grand-nieces, one grand-nephew and a host of dear friends.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Presbyterian Medical Services: Hospice Center, 1400 Chama Ave., Santa Fe, NM 87505.