Shawn "Fish" Farritor, 53, of Grand Island passed into eternal life Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, with Father Marty Egging as the Celebrant. Interment will be in the West Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Island. To protect one another, face masks are required. Lunch will be at the church following interment.
Visitation will be at 5 p.m., followed by a vigil at 7, Thursday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Family will be greeting those in attendance.

Shawn was born June 13, 1967, to the late Ed and Vicki Farritor of Ravenna.
Doctors predicted he wouldn't live past the age of 2 due to a congenital defect called "transposition of the great arteries." His family prayerfully pursued treatment. Shawn toddled past age 4 and his parents were again told he would not live past the age of 8. For his 16th birthday, he inherited the family vehicle, a royal blue '76 Chevy Malibu Classic, which became known in Ravenna circles as "The Fishmobile."


As the quintessential underdog, he dedicated his life to serving the marginalized and downtrodden. He worked tirelessly to make the world a better place. In that vein, he was an attorney for Legal Aid of Nebraska and served as vice president of the Friendship House in Grand Island. He was also a volunteer for English as a second language instruction at the Grand Island Literacy Council. Having learned Dutch in college, he understood the difficulties in learning a new language. To better serve his students and clients in Grand Island, he learned Spanish and began learning Vietnamese. He was a parishioner of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Grand Island, and a member of the Hastings Writers' Forum and the Nebraska Bar Association.














In his spare time, Shawn wrote and published two historical fiction novels about the Pawnee Indians of Nebraska titled, "The End of Pawnee Starlight" and "The Pawnee War." He loved walking his basset hound, Roscoe, and cleaning up spilled water from glasses tipped by his cat, Raskol. He adored his nieces and nephews, spending time with them whenever he could. He was a man unashamed of having a favorite dinosaur (Allosaurus). He enjoyed working at the Legal Aid office in Grand Island. They appreciated his vast Nebraska Cornhuskers tie selection. Shawn's most treasured aspect of life was being husband to Amy and stepfather to Adam, both of whom he deeply loved.

Shawn's congenital heart defect subsequently led to pulmonary hypertension, ultimately making him a candidate for a heart and double lung transplant. He received this second chance of life on Dec. 28, 2019, at the Nebraska Medical Center. He fought daily for nine months overcoming brutal complications. He bravely and humbly chose to discontinue medical interventions and surrounded himself with his family in his final moments.
Shawn is survived by his wife, Amy (Semm) of Grand Island, and stepson, Adam Tracy of Lincoln; brothers, Mike (Jan) and Pat (Betty), all of Sioux Falls, S.D., Shane (Tracy) of Lincoln; sisters, Michele Abel (Tony) of Lake Jackson, Texas, Mary Clark of Ravenna, and Sharon Raimondo (Tony) of Columbus; aunt, Lenore Rourke of Lincoln; aunt, Ann Gracyzk of Sumner; uncle, Charles Farritor of Claremont, Calif.; mother-in-law, Jo Semm of Grand Island; and many adored nephews and nieces.















He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Vicki Farritor (Graczyk); grandparents, Frank and Mary (McDonald) Farritor and Walter and Sally (Kosmicki) Graczyk; brother-in-law, Bruce Clark; father-in-law, Gary Semm; and many aunts and uncles.
Memorials are suggested to Legal Aid of Nebraska, Crossroads Homeless Shelter in Hastings or the Shawn Farritor Benefit Fund.