Shawn Lynn Smith

ARLINGTON -- Shawn Smith, 59, passed on to a better place Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, following a battle with brain cancer. Memorial service: 11 a.m. Friday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 5819 W. Pleasant Ridge Road, Arlington. Rosary: Will be said at 7 p.m. Thursday the church. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society or Reading is Fundamental. Shawn was born in 1956 as Shawn Jeske in St. Louis, Mo. While working her way through college at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, she decided to pursue a commission in the Navy, a decision that changed her life. She served on active duty for seven years and later transitioned to the Navy Reserves as an intelligence officer in order to stay home and raise her three children. After 27 years in the Navy, Shawn retired as a captain and, after a brief stint as an elementary librarian in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, returned to serve her beloved Navy as a civilian at the Navy Information Dominance Corps Reserve Command in Fort Worth. A friend and mentor to countless people, Shawn was a natural leader who lived by the motto "Take care of your people." Survivors: She leaves behind her mother, Virginia Harrison; her father-in-law, Roy Smith; her loving husband of 33 years, Mike; and her loving children, Erin, Nathan and Kelly.