Shawny Lee Hatch Smith

Shawny Lee Hatch Smith, 32, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, died February 7, 2003. Born in Laramie, Wyoming, Shawny grew up in the Rocky Mountain West and later spent formative years in Clarksville and Lamar, Arkansas, where she continued her schooling after her family’s move in 1986.

In October 2000 Shawny returned to Wyoming and settled in Cheyenne, where she worked for an industrial employer and worked to rebuild a stable life for her young family. Those who knew her remember a woman whose days were shaped by the steady, practical devotion of a mother raising two children. She is survived by her son Jarret Perren, her daughter Darien Smith, her mother Lynda V. Hatch, and her sister Jackie L. Hatch, along with nieces, nephews and extended family across Wyoming and Arkansas.

Family members described Shawny as someone who valued close ties and ordinary joys: the rhythms of home, the small victories of work and parenting, and the companionship of friends and family. Though her life was cut short, her children and relatives remember the care she gave and the presence she offered in daily life.

A memorial service was held on February 23 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Clarksville, Arkansas, with cremation and plans for later interment of her ashes with her father at Minnow Creek. In place of lengthy tributes, Shawny’s life is best honored by remembering her role as a devoted mother and a member of a close-knit family who crossed state lines yet sustained the ties that mattered most.

Those who carry Shawny’s memory forward do so through the children she raised and the family connections she cherished. Her life—rooted in Laramie, shaped in Arkansas, and lived in Cheyenne—remains a reminder of the ordinary, essential love that defines parenthood and family.