Sharon was born on June 12, 1939, to her parents Phil & Eldina. She had one older brother, Phillip Jr., and two younger, half-sisters, Bernice and Barbara. She was raised by her father and Rosalin, her stepmother. She only got to really know her birth mother, Eldina, as she grew older, but the two became very close.

She was a pretty little girl, who loved the outdoors. Rather than being cooped up inside, she preferred hunting or fishing with her dad, or just running around outside and playing with her brother. In fact, Sharon rarely ever walked anywhere. If she was moving, she was running! Those strong legs served her well later in life when she excelled in water skiing, ice skating, and hula dancing. She learned the hula growing up next door to a Polynesian family.

Sharon was also a straight-A student, Homecoming Queen, and head cheerleader in high school. Cheerleading and performing hula in front of a large crowd were amazing feats for her, considering she’d always been such a shy girl…so shy, that it was hard for her to even eat in front of people. If they served soup, her hand would shake so much, it all fell out of the spoon! Part of this shyness was natural, the other, she had attributed to some experiences as a child and in Catholic school.

Having an artistic nature, she was very aware of the world around her. Observing the beauty and variety in nature, she reasoned that God must be a loving person…but she couldn’t reconcile that with the cruelty she had experienced. So, as a teen, she explored other churches, only to be further disappointed.

Finally, she set aside her search for spiritual truths and became heavily involved in academics and secular pursuits. Sharon was a gifted writer, but being well known in high school for her artistic prowess, she was hired as Assistant Art Director for a package design firm, honing great skills as a graphic artist, at only the age of 17!

By age 20, she had become Art Director. But, it was while still in high-school that Sharon first laid eyes on Ronnie Wenz. When she saw him, she thought she had seen a “Greek god!” Sharon was a very pretty girl, but she never thought much of herself. Once, she asked Ron what had attracted him to her. In true Ron fashion, he just grinned and said, “I liked your forehead.” 

The two remained sweethearts, corresponding through letters, while Ron played football for UCLA. But they missed each other so much, he gave up all the scholarships and a promising career, went home, and asked Sharon to marry him. She said she really wanted to marry him, but first, she had to know one thing: “Do you believe in God?”, she asked. Ron just laughed and said, “Yes, of course, I believe in God!”…Well, that was good enough for her!

So, on December 25, 1958, they were married. Two years later, in 1960, they had their daughter Laura, seven years later, in 1967, their son, Erik, and then, in 1969, baby girl Kristina was born.

Eventually, Sharon quit her job, so she could spend more time with her kids. She set up an art studio in the kitchen and did freelance work from home. During this time, she became very close to Ron’s parents, Manual and Pauline Wenz, and Ron’s sister, Lou Jean, who were all Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Pauline would talk to Sharon about the Bible, giving her magazines to read, but she and Ron were so busy with other pursuits that they had little time for spiritual things. One day, she visited a chiropractor, named Glen Gibbler, who also happened to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He brought up a Bible prophecy about “The King of the North and the King of the South.” That intrigued her, so she went home and read the book “Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained.”

She knew immediately, that this was the truth she’d been searching for all those years ago! But, she said, “I had to learn all over again that I really needed God in my life.” After studying the Bible for quite a while, she and Ron were finally baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1970. They went down together. Sharon popped up, but Ron just sank to the bottom of the pool. She would tease him, saying that he “just needed a little more time under the water!”

Sharon did have a good sense of humor, which was one reason she liked Ron, because he could be very funny. But, to her own admission, she couldn’t tell an actual joke to save her life! One time, she heard a joke she liked and was determined to tell it to Ron. So, she practiced it all day, went home, and proceeded to tell him the joke. In the middle of it, he started laughing so hard, he fell off the couch! But, what she didn’t realize, is that she had just given the punch line away, halfway through the joke! That’s what Ron thought was so hilarious!

Not long after their baptism, they moved out to the country to some property in Penryn, which Sharon had fallen in love with…in the dark!! There were no roads, no septic system, just a lonely little power pole. Ron’s folks were going to join them and live on the property too. They had owned a nice little trailer home and had moved it up there ahead of Ron and Sharon. But, while down in the city, helping the “kids” to move out of their house, Manuel and Pauline got the call that their little home had burned to the ground!

They lost all but the work clothes on their back. So, Ron and Sharon gave them a little travel trailer to sleep in, which they’d planned to live in while they built roads, a house, etc…and they slept outside, on their big brass bed, under the stars! This was great, until winter came. Then Ron hooked up their electric blanket to the power pole.

When it started raining, they moved into a tent. They lived like that through the winter months. When Spring came, all the poppies and wild lupins were out, and the property was beautiful. So, Sharon couldn’t wait to entertain guests!

She invited 20 people over for dinner... before they even had a house or a kitchen! Again, Ron just hooked up up their old stove to that little power pole, and that was that! Even despite the circumstances, Sharon was very hospitable!

Sharon was also a very good cook. She invited some young brothers from Bethel to dinner one time, and, wanting to serve them something special, she made everything from Duck à L’Orange to Lobster Newburgh. At first, there was an awkward silence. Then, one of the boys blurted out, “Mmm, good bread!” The family has laughed about that for years, and it has become a catchphrase at dinnertime.

Loving healthy, organic food, Sharon wanted a farm. So, they raised all kinds of animals: cows, goats, pigs, horses, sheep, chickens, dogs, and cats. The whole family was expected to help out raising those animals, and also the huge garden that kept them alive during the leaner months.

This helped to instill a strong work ethic in their children, which has now passed on to their children, as well. Life on the “farm” could be hard at times, but Ron and Sharon loved it! They just took things in stride and always did their best, trying hard to put Kingdom interests first in their lives. So, spiritually, they prospered.

Despite going through a very rough bout with cancer and other serious health issues, Sharon was able to auxiliary pioneer several times during her lifetime, even while in her 80s and crippled with arthritis! Whenever there was a special campaign coming up, she never thought twice about signing up, even when she couldn’t walk on her own anymore. She was always blessed for it.

When Sharon first started studying the Bible, she said to her teacher, “Look, I know it’s the truth, but you will NEVER catch me out knocking on doors!” Well, of course, that didn’t last long. Because of her deep love for God and neighbor, she decided to at least try. At her very first door, she was so nervous, she introduced herself by her maiden name, even though she’d been married for years! She said, “Hello, my name is Sharon Edwards…No, wait a minute…No it’s not…it’s, um…” and she drew a total blank. The lady just looked at her like she was crazy, but then she agreed to a Bible study! Sharon was sure the lady just felt sorry for her.

But, knowing she had the backing and support of Christ Jesus and her loving heavenly father, Jehovah, Sharon pressed on in the disciple-making work, despite her feelings of inadequacy. And she really did love teaching people about the Bible. She would just light up when she saw them grasp the truth for the first time. One of her students, who was later baptized, commented on how she appreciated Sharon’s gift of visual illustrations.

Sharon especially loved to work with the Circuit Overseers and their wives. One time, she took the “CO” out in her jeep that had no doors! There were a few raised eyebrows, of course, but guess who he asked to work with on his next visit? She also taught one of the CO’s wives to paint and helped another to re-decorate their apartment. They kept in touch and remained close throughout the years.

A short time after her baptism and moving to the Lincoln congregation, Sharon was asked to design and paint two large murals at the assembly hall in Yuba City. She humbly accepted this privilege from Jehovah and took her assignment very seriously. She devoted hours of prayerful and intense research to ensure that everything they portrayed was accurate, before ever presenting her ideas to the brothers in charge.

Throughout the years, those murals survived quite a few re-designs of the Assembly Hall, which Sharon had a part in as well. So many friends took pictures in front of them and have them to this day. Michael, now her son-in-law, used to watch her paint while he worked on the assembly hall build. This motivated him to keep painting himself. Other teens were inspired by her as well when she taught Art classes at Sacramento State Preparatory School. Some of her grandchildren also lean toward the Arts and have followed in her footsteps. Actually, those murals ended up helping the family out financially, as well...

At one point, a builder took note of Sharon’s work and asked her to paint some murals in his model homes. One thing led to another, and soon she was designing entire restaurants and other types of commercial interiors. Before she knew it, she was designing multi-million dollar houses from the ground up! She never charged enough, though. Ron used to say to her, “Mom, you don’t make a lot of money, you make a lot of friends!”

When the laws for Interior Designers changed, she found herself back in school, studying to take the NCIDQ test, now a requirement for the trade. Noting her abilities and extensive experience, the teacher asked Sharon to fill in for her when she was away. After completing the course, she flew back to Harvard and got her official design certification in only three days.

This gave her enough confidence in her abilities to enter a competition, where she had to design an entire multi-million dollar “Show House”. She won the Platinum award for that, and she also won first place in a national lighting award in. Somewhere along the way, she got the attention of ASID, the American Society of Interior Designers, who offered her a prestigious position that she was tempted to take. After praying about it, she decided to decline their offer. She was already having too much fun working for Jehovah, in the ministry and in re-designing Kingdom Hall interiors throughout Northern California.

Sharon worked tirelessly on those projects, as did so many brothers and sisters. Before she was part of the RBC arrangement, Laura remembers her mom staying up 4 days in a row without sleep, working diligently until the jobs were complete. She would often put in “special pioneer” hours working on Kingdom Halls when nobody even knew about it, except for her family, and, of course, Jehovah.

She never understood why he had blessed her with all these privileges. Well, it was obvious to her family and, all the brothers who she worked with, that she was the right combination of talent, meekness, mildness, and humility. She was dignified, composed, and yielding; Sharon also recognized that any gifts she had were only from Jehovah, and she gave all credit to him!

As she got older, Sharon’s zeal and love for Jehovah only increased. When all she could do was lay in her hospital bed, she would preach to the nurses and therapists that came to the house. Both she and Ron, together with Michael and Laura, had some great experiences doing this kind of “evening” Witnessing, often in the middle of the night, or the early morning hours.

For entertainment and to distract herself from the intense, chronic pain she was in, Sharon liked to watch shows about animals and all the beautiful places in the world. Her family got a kick out of how she would get so perturbed she got when they gave the credit to evolution, instead of the real designer, Jehovah God! Perhaps she identified with him on some level.

Sharon viewed Jehovah as her friend and hoped that he saw her the same way. She tried to imitate him as best she could, and this made her a good friend to have. If necessary, she was willing to “tell it like it is”, or just listen patiently and compassionately if someone needed a shoulder to cry on. She never took herself too seriously, and she always looked for the best in people. If she was hurt, she was quick to forgive.

Sharon was just such a good example in so many ways. She taught us all how to work hard, stay humble, and always put spiritual things first in life. She dearly loved all of her family, all of her brothers and sisters in the truth, all of her Bible students, and all of her children and grandchildren…

There are Kris & Daniel’s 5 children: Sam, Courtney, twins Mitchell and Waylon, and Dillon. Erik, her son, had 4 children: Justin, Hallie, Gabby, and Lily. And Sharon’s oldest daughter, Laura had 3 girls: Asia, Kiri, and Tani. Not to be forgotten is Sharon’s one and only Great-grandchild by Erik’s daughter Hallie, little Edie.

And one of the best surprises she ever got was when she found out her long-lost cousin, Bob Kirby, whom she barely knew, had accepted the truth. He and his wife are such loving, kind people and Sharon felt so blessed to have them in her life. Also later, to her sheer delight, her brother, who was already in his 80s, became interested in discussing the Bible with her. In his 80s he would drive all the way down from Shasta just to see her and talk about the Kingdom. She also talked about her hope and became very close to friends Shirley Sperry, as well as Jim and Karen Sutton, who she had met earlier in business scenarios.

Sharon longed for the time when, by means of God’s Kingdom, the earth will be restored to a Paradise again and be filled with righteous people who love each other, imitate their Lord Jesus, and worship their loving, heavenly father, Jehovah. And, of course, she looked forward to having her strong, youthful body back again!

Sharon’s heart’s desire was to see Ron again, along with all of her family… her spiritual family and her Bible students…All of them there, together, when she wakes up in the promised resurrection. When that happens, we will probably have to catch up with her later, because she is going to just take off running!

For now, we will all miss her warm, sweet smile and gracious, loving spirit!

We love you, Sharon, our Friend, Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma!! 

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