Beaufort mother of 2 killed in crash remembered as a ‘wonderful friend’
Hundreds are mourning the loss of a Beaufort woman who was killed in a crash on Monday.
Hailee Shackelfurd, 31, is being remembered as a dedicated mother to her two young children and a bright presence in the local service industry.
“(Shackelfurd’s son and daughter) are beaming examples of the love their mother filled them with every moment of every day,” according to a GoFundMe that says it is organizing money for her funeral expenses and a future fund for her children. “She was the best at making sure birthdays and holidays felt like the biggest day of the year.” The online fundraiser garnered nearly $60,000 in donations in three days, three times its initial goal.
“(Y)our outreach and support has absolutely blown us away,” Hailee’s brother Preston Shackelfurd, who organized the fundraiser, wrote on social media Thursday morning. “Thank you so much to everyone who has donated or given us support in these extremely hard times.”
Hailee Shackelfurd served patrons at the Jarvis Creek Crazy Crab location on Hilton Head Island for two years. Following the birth of her children, she went on to work at the Dockside Restaurant on Lady’s Island.
“She was a wonderful server; she was a wonderful friend. She just had a great personality,” Liz Carlisle, a manger at Crazy Crab, said of Shackelfurd, saying the news of her death had shocked the restaurant’s staff. Shackelfurd had kept in touch with her friends at the restaurant, Carlisle said, many of whom also had young children.
Shackelfurd’s funeral is planned for Monday at Anderson Funeral Home in Beaufort, according to her brother, with a viewing starting at 12 p.m. and service at 2:30 p.m.
A celebration of life will follow at Boundary Street’s Red Rooster Cafe. Relatives are asking anyone outside of family members and “very close friends” to arrive after 5 p.m., the announcement says.
