PRICE- Shaun Lee Hathaway, A.K.A. “The Big Kid”, 44, was born March 7, 1974 in Glenwood Springs, Colo., to Arvid “Harvey” Hathaway and Linda Bray Hathaway. They divorced and she later married John Welch. Shaun passed away unexpectedly while on a jeep safari in Empire, Colorado on Aug. 3, 2018.
Shaun always said that John taught him how to be a man, how to take care of his family and the value of a hard days work. Shaun worked hard and took pride in his work and was thankful every day for his job at Longwall West and greatly admired his boss Kent Shiner. Shaun also liked to play hard and loved the outdoors. He always loved to go camping, riding four-wheelers, riding motorcycles, he was an avid motorcycle rider, or taking his jeep to the desert or to Moab or into the mountains. He said that as we got older we actually got dumber. Because with age came a little more money, which meant too many toys and not enough time to enjoy them all, but he was always determined to give it his best shot to do so. He took great pride in buying a used stock jeep and building it to his specifications and would do sometimes weeks or months of research on what parts were the strongest and the best. He always lived by the motto “a real jeep is built, not bought.” He and his family began to attend the Mile High Jeep Club All-4-Fun jeep safari in Colorado in August of 1998 and only missed a couple of years when other obligations prevented them from attending. This was their 20th “jeeping” anniversary. He loved the beauty of Colorado and the thrill (even if it wasn’t the thrill of his wife) of being on a shelf road at 11,000 to 14,000 feet with sheer drop offs (usually on the passenger side of course) or maneuvering over ledges and boulders to test what his jeep, that he had built on his own, could do. His co-workers, friends and family would joke that he and wife were never home and you could never catch them on a weekend. Shaun intended to see as much of the world as he could and enjoy life to the fullest. He always said “Life is too short to be miserable, you need to live life while you can.”
Shaun was the type of person that would help anyone in any way that he could. He would drop whatever he was doing to run to help his friends or family if they needed it. It didn’t matter if he was in the middle of a project or sound asleep if someone in need called he dropped everything and went. He is going to be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
The family would like to thank Longwall West and the Shiner family for all they’ve done for Shaun and his family for the past 12 years and your kindness and generosity will never be forgotten.
He is leaves behind his wife, Frankie, daughter Chelsea, mother Linda Welch, brother Scott (Kim) Hathaway, sister Stephanie (Kurt) Bellm, sister Jennifer (Josh) Taylor, mother in law Nancy Wiggains, sister in law Sonia Wiggain and his nephews Zac and Garrett Hathaway and Kyle Taylor, and neices Kaylee and Kenzie Taylor.
Shaun was preceeded in death by his step-father John Welch, maternal grandparents George and Leona Kay Bray, and paternal grandparents Finley and Doris Hathaway.
Memorial Services will be held Saturday Aug. 18 at 10 a.m. at Mitchell Funeral Home in Price, Utah where family will receive friends one hour prior to service. Arrangements entrusted to Mitchell Funeral Home of Price where friends are always welcome daily and may share memories online at www.mitchellfuneralhome.net.