Song Won Shin was born “Sin Sung Won” to Sin Kyong Yol on April 12, 1973, in Seoul, South Korea. His beloved mother, Kyong Yol, married his father, Army NCO, WC McGehee in 1980. His family moved to the United States in 1981, settling in Wilson, Oklahoma in 1982. Song officially became a proud US Citizen on April 18, 1989.
While growing up in Wilson, Song was known as “Tom” to many people in his small community. Song excelled in both academics and sports including baseball, basketball, and football. He graduated from Wilson High School in 1992 as co-Salutatorian.
Song attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University from 1992-1996 where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. He was an active member of the Baptist Student Union and other on-campus organizations where he made lifelong friends and connections. He spent his summers as a camp counselor at Camp Cullen.
After college, he moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where he worked at Aviation Challenge for two years. He returned to SOSU in the fall of 1998 to pursue his MBA while working in the Office of Student Affairs. He spent a short time as a youth minister at Blue Baptist Church in Blue, Oklahoma, and he had the privilege to go on a mission trip to Malawi, Africa. In 2000, he chose to leave SOSU to start his career in the Cellular Communication industry where he worked in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before moving back to Durant, OK, with his family in 2017.
Song married Leslye Haggard on Oct. 22, 2005, in Durant, Okla. His daughter, Annalye Bell Shin, was born on Feb. 20, 2009, in Albuquerque, N.M. His son William “Liam” Carlton Shin was born on Sept. 7, 2013, in Phoenix, Ariz. His two children were the light of his life, and he loved them so very much. Song was an avid golfer, tennis player, and lover of all sports. He especially enjoyed watching his favorite team – the Oklahoma Sooners.
In 2021, following the amicable end of his first marriage, Song moved to Ft Payne, Alabama, to live near his brother Marc and his father. While living in Alabama, Song worked for Heil Corporation as a Technical Writer for three years.
In 2024, Song reconnected with an old friend from his graduate years at SOSU, Jennifer Beasley. Their long-time friendship and unique connection blossomed into a strong love that neither of them could explain. The two were happily married on August 7, 2025.
Sadly, their love story was cut way too short. Song passed away at Texoma Medical Center in Denison, Texas, after battling an illness that his ailing, physical heart could not defeat. His life slipped away peacefully from his loving wife’s arms into the arms of his Lord, Jesus.
Song will be forever missed in this world, survived by his wife Jennifer (Beasley) Shin of their home in Denison, Texas; his two children Annalye and Liam Shin and their mother, Leslye Haggard, of Durant, Okla.; his three bonus children Kinsey, Katelyn, and Connor Gray of their home in Denison, Texas; his brother, Marc McGehee of Ft. Payne, Alabama; and Jerrod and Mendy Lingle (and their family) of Altus, Okla. Song had countless friends from around the world and family members in South Korea. Song was preceded in death by both his mother and father, Kyong Yol and WC McGehee.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, February 27, at Brown’s Funeral Home chapel in Durant. Bro. Jeremy Parham will officiate. Committal services will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Hugo with Jerrod Lingle, Jaden Lingle, Jake Lingle, Jason Hicks, Michael Gelsthorpe, Marc McGehee, Connor Gray, and Liam Shin, serving as pallbearers.
The family will receive friends on Thursday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Brown’s Funeral Home in Durant.
Arrangements under the direction of Brown’s Funeral Service.