August 22, 1941 - June 8, 2023
Sharon Elizabeth Work was born Sharon Elizabeth Smersh in 1941 in Wahoo, Nebraska. She was the oldest of three children of Grace and Howard Smersh. When she was a high school sophomore the family moved to Estes Park, Colorado where she met James C. Work. She and James soon became inseparable companions to one another and in 1960 were married at the Community Church of the Rockies in Estes Park.
Sharon completed three years of microbiology curriculum at Colorado State University. She and James agreed he should accept a teaching position at the College of Southern Utah, where she worked in a research laboratory. A few years later, back in Fort Collins, she became a dental assistant and was later engaged as hard goods manager at Gulley Greenhouse.
Sharon sang in the Mountain View Presbyterian Church choir. She joined a hot air balloon crew and went on many balloon flights. She volunteered her time at the Dunn Elementary school library. She kept an excellent garden, helped direct a local gourmet dining club, hiked most of Rocky Mountain National Park (including Longs Peak), canoed in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness, loved to explore the American southwest, hiked in the Canadian Rockies, travelled not only to Banff but to Victoria Island and Nova Scotia as well. She also travelled to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. While working at Dunn School she went on a trip to Japan where she stayed with various private families.
It was 1980 when Sharon was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She remained active and working at the greenhouse until approximately 2002 when she began to rely on a wheelchair. She was still active and alert until 2012 when she finally had to slow down. Doctors predicted she would pass away before reaching age 72 but she endured until 2023, dying on June 8.
Sharon is survived by her sister, Susanne Nelson; her Wahoo cousin, Nancy Miners; her husband, James C. Work; her two daughters Caprise Lindsey and Stephanie Work, her son Robert Work, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
SERVICES
Memorial Service
Saturday, June 24, 2023
2:00 PM
Mountain View Presbyterian Church
2500 N. Garfield Avenue
Lovealnd, CO 80538
