Dozens come together to remember a Beaufort mom who never met a stranger
Dozens of Hailee Shackelfurd’s friends, family and former coworkers filled the Red Rooster Cafe Monday evening. Many were teary-eyed, but there were also smiles and bursts of laughter at the celebration honoring her life.
Many wore the same formal attire they had worn to her funeral, but others dressed casually at the request of Hailee’s brother, Preston, who said, “Hailee would want you all to look however you feel your best.”
The 31-year-old Beaufort woman and mother of two was killed in a Lady’s Island car crash on March 16.
Reflective conversations about Hailee — remembered as a thoughtful mother and kindhearted friend — began in the restaurant and spilled out onto the patio. A small screen in the dining room cycled through pictures of Hailee that her loved ones had compiled: the smiling mom with her two young children, a group of coworkers pausing for a photo in the middle of a hectic shift.
Deep ties in the Beaufort community
The Shackelfurds’ ties to the Beaufort community run deep. Many attendees had known the family for decades after Hailee’s father, Donn, coached their children’s little league baseball team.
Sage Hollis, 33, said her family and the Shackelfurds had been intertwined since she was young, like many other families in the area. Asked to describe how she would remember her childhood friend, Hollis was momentarily speechless: Hailee’s spirit was “too much” to put into words, she said.
The community rallied around the Shackelfurds following Hailee’s death. In three days, a GoFundMe organized by family exceeded $60,000 in donations for her funeral expenses, three times its initial goal of $20,000.
Who was Hailee Shackelfurd?
Hailee was born in 1994 in Fairfield, California, and spent her childhood between South Carolina and the West Coast. She attended Beaufort High School and became a well-known figure in the local service industry while working at Hilton Head Island’s Crazy Crab and the Dockside Restaurant on Lady’s Island.
She was a “spirited second-born child” who never met a stranger, her obituary said. She had a “competitive spirit,” excelling in softball, cheerleading, soccer and gymnastics.
“She was the kind of woman who could weep with you over a Taylor Swift lyric one moment and then relentlessly ‘kick your ass’ in a simple game the next,” Hailee’s obituary said. “And let’s be honest, she would not let up until she triumphantly won.”
Hailee Shackelfurd’s obituary emphasized how good she was to her children, 10-year-old Haiden and 6-year-old Oleander.
Hailee’s daughter and son were “the center of her universe,” her obituary said: “Intelligent, kind, and resilient, they are a living testament to a mother who never hesitated to put them first. Hailee poured her entire soul into their lives, turning every birthday and holiday into a royal celebration.”
