Shannon Dale Work

Shannon Dale Work, 61 years old, of Harpster, passed away the evening of Saturday, March 23, 2019, with his wife by his side. Shannon was born April 11, 1957, to Jack and Elva Work. In 1976, he married the love of his life, Jan, and they spent the next 42 years as soul mates.

After Shannon graduated from Boise State University with a degree in communications in 1980, he attended the University of Oregon School of Law from 1985 to 1988. Then, after graduating and taking the bar exams, he became a member of the Idaho State Bar and Oregon State Bar. During the summer of 1986, Shannon worked for the Native American Rights Fund in Washington, D.C., and later, through spring of 1987, he worked as a research assistant under professor Charles Wilkinson at the University of Oregon School of Law.

After graduating law school, Shannon moved to Coeur d’Alene with his wife, Jan, and worked for the Indian Law Unit at Idaho Legal Aid Services Inc. until 1991. He served as general legal counsel for the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and Kootenai Tribal Economic Development Corp., and later became the director. In 1991, Shannon became a partner in the law firm Givens, Funke and Work, where he provided general legal counsel to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. In 2006, Shannon went into private practice.

As a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Shannon was proud of the work he did for the various tribes throughout his legal career. He was lead counsel in several lawsuits and during the time in private practice, he represented the Spokane Tribe on many issues. Shannon was a mentor and a role model for young native lawyers and also authored several chapters of textbooks for educational purposes. He worked for the Spokane Tribe on the Little Falls Dam settlement; U.S. v. Anderson; and facilitated mercury cleanup for the Elem Pomo Tribe out of Northern California.

Shannon also represented the five civilized tribes of Oklahoma. He was a passionate, relentless and creative advocate for Indian country, and he will be sorely missed by his colleagues and those he served with distinction. Paramount among his achievements was the Midnite Mine cleanup. Considering how difficult it was to achieve that cleanup outcome in the world of CERCLA on the Spokane Indian Reservation, it was a benchmark for remediation in Indian country.

Though Shannon devoted his career to helping many tribes with their fight over environmental issues, he still took the time to spend many nights and weekends with his children and their sports activities. He coached his son, Carson, in Little League, and his daughter, Lela, in softball. He also enjoyed watching Carson wrestle in high school. He seldom missed a game, wrestling match or tournament. In addition, he spent many hours with Lela traveling back and forth to Spokane as her catcher and assistant pitching coach. He and Jan traveled often to watch Lela play throughout her travel, high school and college softball careers. One highlight was when he was able to attend the WAC tournament in Fresno, Calif., watching Lela pitch in relief nine innings against Louisiana Tech. He never stopped talking about the tournament or the many other highlights of Lela’s softball career. He was so proud of her.

Being a father and grandfather was important to Shannon. He taught both Carson and Lela how to fish and hunt and had begun to teach his granddaughter, Dior, the sport of fishing as well. He and Lela went hunting together often, and whenever possible Carson went, too. Birthdays and holidays were also important family times for Shannon. He made sure to make them special for everyone. He adored his granddaughter, Dior, and cherished every moment he was able to spend with her. He gave her rides on the John Deere mower in the summer, and in the winter pulled her on her sled behind it. Shannon made sure he attended Dior’s special activities, such as swim lessons or her kindergarten graduation, and while living in Coeur d’Alene, Sunday breakfast at IHOP became a regular occasion.

Shannon loved to watch his Oregon Ducks and Boise State Broncos play football, basketball and softball. He and Jan attended numerous football bowl and championship games together and also attended many Boise State softball games. When he and Jan couldn’t see the games live, they could be found cheering on their teams on the big screen TV. He really loved his sports.

Jan and Shannon purchased the property on the South Fork of the Clearwater, where family could meet on a regular basis to camp, hunt, fish or to just hang out. One of the best memories Shannon had on the South Fork was catching a steelhead on their stretch of the river. It was mounted and now hangs on the wall in the den. Because the river location was so enjoyable, Shannon and Jan decided to build a home and retire there. Since Jan was still working for the Coeur d’Alene School District, Shannon was able to spend more time at the “river house” than Jan. He set up a second office and was at the river, more than Coeur d’Alene. He loved the river, and the space he and Jan had acquired. After Jan retired from the Coeur d’Alene School District, he and Jan sold their home just outside of Coeur d’Alene and moved full time to the river. It was their dream to hang out together on the river with the dogs and enjoy life. Whenever possible he, Jan and the dogs would go down the hill to the river and have lunch, a campfire or both, and listen to the river, throw sticks for the dogs, watch the deer, eagles, geese and more, while enjoying each other’s company.

The river house provided more than just peace and solitude for Shannon; the property also had blackberries galore, morel mushrooms in the spring and a wide variety of fruit trees. He always talked of getting a cider press and in addition to making homemade beer, making hard apple cider. For quite some time, he had planned on making a special beer with cherries from the fruit trees for Jan. Shannon had so many dreams about his future. He was working on a book, related to the work he had done for the past 30 years that was to include photos he’d taken on the various reservations throughout the country. Shannon also had become quite the gourmet cook, planning recipes to try, using ingredients from the property.

Shannon will be greatly missed. He was an extremely smart man who was respected by all. In his absence, a huge void has been left in the world. Shannon was preceded in death by his grandmother, Agnes Sievers; his grandfather, John Carson Sievers; his grandmother, Lousina Work; grandfather Buck Work; and father Jack Work.

Shannon is survived by his loving wife, Jan; their two children, Carson and Lela; granddaughter Dior; brother Mike Work; sister Karen Page; niece Elenor; nephew A.J. Work, his wife, Sarah, and grandniece Henley; mother Elva Work-Yoder; stepfather Jerry Yoder; stepbrother Jon Yoder; and stepbrother Drew Yoder and his wife, Katrina.

A celebration of Shannon’s life will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Fraternal Order of Eagles, 209 Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814, (208) 664-2218. A reception will follow. Arrangements are under the direction of the Blackmer Funeral Home of Grangeville. You may submit condolences online at Blackmerfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Shannon’s name.