Shawn Leclair Reeves

A phenomenal husband, father, attorney, and human being, Shawn lived every day to the fullest. He asked his wife of seventeen years, Amy, to marry him a month after their first date. He described his love for her as rash and wonderful, comparing it once to a line from his favorite book, The Master and Margarita: “Love leaped out in front of us like a murderer in an alley leaping out of nowhere, and struck us both at once.” They had three children, Atticus, Amelia, and Tennyson, and together the Reeves family traveled extensively at home and abroad creating memories in Maine, Paris, London, and South Africa. As a father, he fostered intellectual curiosity in his children taking them to museums from the Columbia Museum of Art to the Louvre. He made sure their bedrooms were filled with books, and he read to them often. He loved exploring nature with his children, taking them on long hikes in the Upstate and kayaking through the Lowcountry marshes.

Shawn graduated from the College of Charleston with a B.S. in Biology in 2001. After earning his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2004, Shawn developed a passion for family and child welfare law. At the time of his death, he was employed as Assistant General Counsel for the Department of Social Services. He often cited the quotation engraved above the Old Bailey in London, “Defend the Children of the Poor and Punish the Wrongdoer” as the heart of his vocation. As an attorney, he sought justice and security for the most vulnerable in South Carolina. He contributed his legal and mediation skills to the community and valued helping families. He served on the Board of the Midlands Mediation Center and as a member of the South Carolina Bar Children’s Law Committee.

Shawn was a creative, spiritual, and disciplined human being. He was a devout Episcopalian and a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina. He journaled and meditated on passages from the Book of Common Prayer daily. Physical health was just as important to Shawn as spiritual health. He regularly worked out—completing the rigorous Murph workout every Tuesday at 4:30 a.m., and in the past year he became a vegetarian. He loved finding new recipes and cooking with Amy.

Shawn is survived by his wife, Amy Carol Reeves; his children, Atticus Leclair, Amelia Caroline, and Tennyson Way; his mother and stepfather, LaDonne and Glenn Shuler; his five siblings, Stacey (Chris) Owens, Matthew Shuler, Paul (Lauryn) Shuler, Hannah (A.J.) Fakoornejad, and Samuel (Cari) Shuler; and his grandmother, Catherine Reeves. He is predeceased by his father, Johnnie Leclair Reeves.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a small, private funeral service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 10, 2020.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Lawrence Place: https://www.homelessnomoresc.org/transitional-housing

Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com.