Shannon Bullard Memorial Education Fund

Shannon Bullard, mother of Riley and Jamie Bullard, passed away Thursday, November 30, 2023.

The family welcomes donations made in Shannon's memory to be put towards the education of her two beloved children. All donations will be divided equally between Riley Grace Bullard's and Jamie Rose Bullard's education fund accounts.

In the early hours of the morning Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, Shannon Dawn Kuehne Bullard, 56, went upstairs to see the penguins.

Shannon was born Nov. 19, 1967 in Lexington, Ky. Though her parents divorced when she was quite young, she remained close to both sides of the family throughout her life. She met her husband, Ken, via their mutual personals ads on Yahoo! in 2004. They met in person for a first date in Dec. of 2004, Ken proposed in May of 2005, they married on August 27, 2005, honeymooning in the Pacific Northwest, and had their first child, Riley, in July of 2006. (Go ahead and do the math, you know you want to.) Jamie arrived in January of 2008, making the family complete. Shannon’s love for her family was fierce and limitless. There was nothing she would not do for her children or her husband. Their last family vacation was to Universal Studios in Orlando, where she got so excited about the Harry Potter experience her family became concerned that she actually thought it was real.

Shannon’s human resources career carried her from the Asheville Citizen Times, to the Hickory Daily Record, Advance Auto Parts Distribution Center, SunBelt Trucking, Sattler Corp., and finally to JPS Composite Materials in Statesville, from which she had hoped to retire. She maintained friendships with people from all of these places.

In her younger days, Shannon loved school, sports, horses and boys (though not necessarily in that order). She graduated from West Wilkes High School, and continued to earn both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Appalachian State University. When App State was playing football, you likely heard some of her screams at the television if you lived within a 25-mile radius of her home. She was passionate about justice and equality for the LGBT+ community, people of color, and women. Shannon loved collecting manatees, Santa figures, and canned food. She could watch “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the Harry Potter movies endlessly, and tried never to miss “The Bold and the Beautiful.” She drank Cherry Dr. Pepper all day long and would laugh at a fart as much as any third grader. Her favorite music was Queen, Dolly Parton, Ed Sheeran, and for some inexplicable reason, disco. She loved everything about Christmas and always dressed up for Halloween.

Shannon became seriously ill in November of 2023, and her condition deteriorated rapidly. Her last two weeks were spent at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. The family would like to express their deepest gratitude for the kindness and compassion that Shannon and her family were shown, not only by the doctors, nurses, and CNAs; but also by patient transport, food services, housekeeping and more; with a special thank you to nurse, Cameron, who cared for Shannon several days; and ICU housekeeper, Laverne, who kept Ken afloat on the worst day of his life. These two ladies were angels sent by God.

Shannon was in some degree of delirium most of her time at the hospital. The last complete coherent sentence she said to her husband was, “I want to go upstairs to see the penguins.” A few days later, she did.

Riley, Jamie, and Ken are deeply grateful for your kind memorial gift.