Brent Shawn Swafford

After a long and difficult struggle with cancer, Brent Shawn Swafford (“Shawn”) died Friday, August 18, 2023, with his wife and best friend Shannon by his side.

Shawn was born on February 4, 1969, to Duane K. and Janis Galene Swafford in Twin Falls, ID. In the early 1980s, the family moved to the Midwest to care for Shawn’s grandparents. In Kansas, his passion for hunting and fishing that he shared with his father, became a reality.

Shawn graduated from Pratt (KS) High School in 1987. He earned an associate’s degree in Gunsmithing from Trinidad State Junior College, and a B.S. in Human Resources from Friends University. After college, Shawn worked for the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Dept. at the Pratt Fish Hatchery as a technician.

In 1989 Shawn met Shannon, the woman he called his soulmate, best friend, and hero. They were married on June 9, 1990, and celebrated 33 years of marriage this spring. Together they had two sons, Tanner and Jayden, whom he loved fiercely enough to become their stay-at-home parent.

At the heart of it all, Shawn was a craftsman and artist. He was an accomplished woodworker, gunsmith, and knife maker. He made and sold handcrafted wooden pens and letter openers. Later, he started Swafford Knives, selling custom, handmade hunting knives. He had an amazing talent for creating beautiful knives. Shawn also loved to spend time outdoors with his family and friends. He enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing, fly fishing, shooting his recurve bow, shooting any type of gun, and taking occasional rides in his 1976 FJ Cruiser. He also thoroughly enjoyed teaching these skills to his sons and their friends. Shawn loved to use his creative talents to make things. He found a passion for making custom fly rods, tying his own flies, rebuilding old Coleman lanterns, and building his own rifles and black powder rifles.

As one of Shawn’s friends recently said, “If you were lucky enough to know Shawn, then you knew you had a friend for life!” Shawn loved his connections with his friends.

Shawn was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by wife Shannon and sons Tanner and Jayden, all of Twin Falls; three siblings - Rev. Susan Payne (Chris) of Tulsa, OK; Lori Swafford (Bob Mills), Torrance, CA; and Brian Swafford (Christy) of Goddard, KS; four nieces and nephews - Kelsey (Chris) Gilbert, Caitlin (Josh) Raya, Gillian Payne, and Chance Swafford; six great-nieces and nephews – Kaylee and Gabriel Lantz of Enid, OK; Trinity, Abigail, Malachi, and Shiloh Raya of Santa Rosa Beach, FL. He is also survived by his bonus son, Sam Radmall, and his loving English Springer Spaniel, Ziva.  

An informal, come-and-go gathering in Shawn’s memory will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, in the Rosenau Funeral Home’s Community Room. Comfortable dress encouraged.

The family requests that memorials be made to an organization that they associate with their memories of Shawn.