Beacon News page designer Shawn Harvey passed away at his home Friday morning after a 13-month-long battle with cancer. It is a sad day for everyone who works here.
Shawn (seen at left with his daughter, Martha) was a versatile and valuable member of our staff. He worked the same hours I do, nights and weekends, and he was instrumental in producing a lot of quality sports sections during his tenure here.
Shawn was a knowledgeable baseball guy. He was a fan of both the Cubs and the Minnesota Twins. I, of course, am a White Sox fan, but I always enjoyed discussing the sport with him, despite our differing allegiances.
He was also the commissioner of The Beacon News Fantasy Baseball League, a league he dominated ruthlessly throughout the 2008 season. (I finished in second place behind him this year, but I promise I'm not bitter.)
Shawn was well-liked and respected by everyone here at The Beacon News.
Our prayers go out to his wife, Judy, and his two young children, Martha and Joseph.
RIP, Shawn. We will miss you both personally and professionally.
Shawn, what will we do without your musical interludes, your sense of humor, your ability to do pretty much anything we threw at you? Now that you're doing the heaven thing, the Cubs will surely make the Series. Not saying they'll win, but... Miracles happen. Goodbye, my friend. You'll never be forgotten.
For those of us lucky enough to have known Shawn, Jason really shed light on something that Shawn loved - sports. He knew everything there was to know about sports, music, tv shows, etc., etc. If a song would come up in discussion, he would most certainly have it on his IPod for all of us to enjoy. Laughing is what I'll remember most about Shawn - I was always laughing whenever I was around him. We will miss your laughter, your sense of humor and all of your incredible talents.
Unfortunately, I never got to meet Shawn and I really feel like I missed out on something great. But our paths crossed in a way that was special to me, whether Shawn knew it or not. I always hoped I'd get a chance to encounter him in the office and tell him about it. In March 2008, I wrote a column about Tribune owner Sam Zell. At the time, he was possibly considering selling the naming rights to Wrigley Field. Being a Cubs fan, I basically spent 18 inches figuring out new and inventive ways to call Zell an idiot. The Beacon picked up my column and ran it on the cover of the sports section (it was a really slow sports day) to which Shawn created a fantastic illustration of a gigantic Sam Zell poking his head out of Wrigley Field with the words "CLUELESS" over the top of his head. The letter "C" in the title was the Cubbie Bear. It was single-handedly one of the best presentations of my work I've ever seen. I still have it and people comment all the time about the cool graphic. Shawn helped make all our work better with his talent. He will be surely missed.
Shawn and I played on a coed volleyball team in the 1990s. While our squad was never in the upper echelons of the league, we developed a great team chemistry, which led to several social gatherings after the games and even after the seasons ended. Shawn was a huge part of those events. One of my favorite photos of Shawn is one of him holding my daughter, then 7 months old, at a backyard party at my house. He is wearing one of those bucket fisherman hats with a Cubs logo on it and my daughter is looking at him and laughing. Shawn, to this day, she is a Cubs fan.
And I'll always be a fan of yours.
I remember Shawn as a quick witted, kind and funny man who was so proud of his children and family...I worked with him at Liberty Newspapers years ago, and had an opportunity to catch up with him a couple summers ago when I saw him at the Bloomingdale Library...of course he pulled out pictures of his two children, and he was just beaming, telling me about what he, Judy and the kids were up to. I am so blessed to have known Shawn, and I am praying for his family and friends...