Frances Sharp

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Frances Elizabeth Moad Sharp passed away on July 24, 2018, leaving behind a lasting legacy of caring for others, of service to her church and God, and of love for those family and friends who were fortunate to know her. She will be forever remembered for her daily Christian walk, of her faithful prayers for others before each and every meal, and of keeping her Bible always close, both in her hands and in her heart. She was truly an angel sent to offer comfort, peace and strength to all she knew and to share the love of Christ through her remarkable life and witness.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., on Sunday, August 5, 2018 at Life Connection Church, 3883 Blue Ridge Blvd, Independence, MO.  The family will greet guests immediately following the service in the church hall from 3 – 4:30 p.m., with graveside services at 5:00 p.m., at Mt. Moriah Cemetery.  Services have been entrusted to Meyers Funeral Chapel in Blue Springs.  Memories of Frances and words of comfort for the family may be shared at meyersfuneralchapel.com.

Born on July 18, 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri to Geneva (Lee) Farris and Fred Americus Farris, Frances attended Whittier School, East High School and the Junior College of Kansas City. She married William (Bill) Martin Moad in 1946, and they enjoyed a blessed marriage of 54 years until his death.

Frances was also preceded in death by her parents and daughters Mary Frances Shatswell and Patricia Marie Moad, and her sisters Jeanine Michael and Dorothy Benton.

Frances enjoyed a career working in the insurance industry beginning in the mid-1950s at the Insurance Company of North America where she made many lifelong friends. She cherished her time working for Raymond Watson, father of professional golfer Tom Watson, whose career she followed with pride. Despite retiring on several occasions, Frances always returned to the workplace, and especially enjoyed her later years as a substitute teacher.

It was her devotion to children and her church that gave Frances her greatest joy and which allowed her to touch so many lives. She attended Bales Baptist Church from her birth until her move to Independence in 1965, where she and Bill joined Birchwood Baptist Church, now known as LifeConnection Church. She remained a member of that church until her passing. She particularly loved her years as a youth at Bales where she sang in the choir with her best friends Dot Provence Land and Lois Hause Gibbs, and taught Sunday School and Training Union for many years.

Neither she nor her children would miss a scheduled service, even missing the first Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in order to attend Sunday Evening Service. She was a serious student of the Bible and a prolific note-taker, documenting the central truths of each sermon and later referring to them in her daily time of prayer and reflection. When her children were young, she served as a youth leader and organized many trips and activities for the group. The pallbearers for her service are the very men she taught as they were growing up.

A talented musician, Frances played cello, violin, viola, piano and organ and especially enjoyed the church orchestra. She was so thrifty that she transposed piano music to violin music in her spare time in order to save the church money. She also loved teaching music to the young children there.

A lifelong learner, Frances enjoyed many interests including gardening, knitting and crafts. For her 90^th birthday party, she crocheted a dishcloth for each of her 100 guests and gave them as her gift to them. She loved gadgets and went to hilarious lengths to buy gadgets to keep herself organized. She also elevated coupon clipping to an art form. Most importantly, she sought out opportunities to give of her time, talent and treasure to others, a legacy she passed on to her children.

Frances’s life was defined by adventure and she passed along that legacy to her children as well. She shared herself with the world, and the world was better as a result. A special memory was when she and Bill celebrated their 50^th anniversary with a cruise to Bermuda with 30 other friends celebrating milestones in their lives. Other beloved memories ranged from parasailing in the Florida Keys, boating in the Bahamas visiting farms in Hawaii, snowshoeing in Vail, hiking in southern Spain with her granddaughter Sara, and a cherished trip the Holy Land.  She felt useful when she was serving others and volunteered on mission trips, and especially loved one to Mexico. She loved yearly reunions with Bill and his shipmates from the USS William P. Biddle, visiting San Antonio, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Boston among many others. After Bill’s death, her adventures only continued, and included her marriage to Leonard Sharp, who also served on the Biddle and attended reunions with Frances and Bill.  When Frances and Leonard married, their wedding was attended by 350 people from several states. They were married for 10 years and shared a deep love, companionship and respect for each other’s family.

In later years, Frances particularly loved her second home of North Carolina and city of Greensboro, where she participated in many activities with daughter Peggy and her family. She especially enjoyed her time visiting friends at Figure Eight Island as well as spending time with Leonard’s son Jim and his wife Velma during winters in Havelock, the North Carolina beaches and the quaint fishing towns along the Carolina coast. But even though she traveled the world through her adventures, she dearly cherished her time at home, simply enjoying its comforts.

She is survived by her beloved husband, Leonard Royce Sharp of the Groves Retirement Community in Independence, Missouri.  He loved and cherished her and will miss her so very much.  She leaves her daughter Peggy Moad Hamilton (David), granddaughter Dr. Sara Fletcher Stowe (Jeremy), great-granddaughter Hamilton Lea Stowe, all of Greensboro, North Carolina; Christopher Fletcher of Overland Park, Kansas and Benjamin Fletcher of Dover, New Hampshire; son-in-law Laughton Shatswell of Deepwater, Missouri, granddaughter Stephanie Wheeler (Kent), great-grandsons  Grant (Ann), Spencer and Chandler of Hardin, Missouri; grandson Kevin Shatswell (Michelle)  great-granddaughter Kalene Shatswell (Riley), great-grandson Trent, all of Rogersville, Missouri, and many beloved nieces and nephews.  Through marriage to Leonard, she became a loving step-mother to Larry Sharp (Gaye) of Lee’s Summit, Janice Johnson (David) of Norborne, Missouri, Jim Sharp (Velma) of Havelock, North Carolina, Joyce Utterback of Carrollton, Missouri and Greg Sharp of Norborne, Missouri, and many step-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to express love and gratitude to the physicians, staff, caregivers at Groves Retirement Community and Centerpoint Hospital for their kindness and compassion over the past several months. Donations can be made in Frances’s memory to the Greensboro Symphony Guild Education Fund at PO Box 10408, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404 or LifeConnection Church, 3883 Blue Ridge Boulevard, Independence, Missouri 64052.

Frances enjoyed a career working in the insurance industry beginning in the mid-1950s at the Insurance Company of North America where she made many lifelong friends. She cherished her time working for Raymond Watson, father of professional golfer Tom Watson, whose career she followed with pride. Despite retiring on several occasions, Frances always returned to the workplace, and especially enjoyed her later years as a substitute teacher.

It was her devotion to children and her church that gave Frances her greatest joy and which allowed her to touch so many lives. She attended Bales Baptist Church from her birth until her move to Independence in 1965, where she and Bill joined Birchwood Baptist Church, now known as LifeConnection Church. She remained a member of that church until her passing. She particularly loved her years as a youth at Bales where she sang in the choir with her best friends Dot Provence Land and Lois Hause Gibbs, and taught Sunday School and Training Union for many years.

Neither she nor her children would miss a scheduled service, even missing the first Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in order to attend Sunday Evening Service. She was a serious student of the Bible and a prolific note-taker, documenting the central truths of each sermon and later referring to them in her daily time of prayer and reflection. When her children were young, she served as a youth leader and organized many trips and activities for the group. The pallbearers for her service are the very men she taught as they were growing up.

A talented musician, Frances played cello, violin, viola, piano and organ and especially enjoyed the church orchestra. She was so thrifty that she transposed violin music to piano music in her spare time in order to save the church money. She also loved teaching music to the young children there.

A lifelong learner, Frances enjoyed many interests including gardening, knitting and crafts. For her 90^th birthday party, she crocheted a dishcloth for each of her 100 guests and gave them as her gift to them. She loved gadgets and went to hilarious lengths to buy gadgets to keep herself organized. She also elevated coupon clipping to an art form. Most importantly, she sought out opportunities to give of her time, talent and treasure to others, a legacy she passed on to her children.

Frances’s life was defined by adventure and she passed along that legacy to her children as well. She shared herself with the world, and the world was better as a result. A special memory was when she and Bill celebrated their 50^th anniversary with a cruise to Bermuda with 30 other friends celebrating milestones in their lives. Other beloved memories ranged from parasailing in the Bahamas, visiting farms in Hawaii, snowshoeing in Vail, hiking in southern Spain with her granddaughter Sara, and a cherished trip the Holy Land.  She felt useful when she was serving others and volunteered on mission trips, and especially loved one to Mexico. She loved yearly reunions with Bill and his shipmates from the USS William P. Biddle, visiting San Antonio, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Boston among many others. After Bill’s death, her adventures only continued, and included her marriage to Leonard Sharp, who also served on the Biddle and attended reunions with Frances and Bill.  When Frances and Leonard married, their wedding was attended by 350 people from several states. They were married for 10 years and shared a deep love, companionship and respect for each other’s family.

In later years, Frances particularly loved her second home of North Carolina and city of Greensboro, where she participated in many activities with daughter Peggy and her family. She especially enjoyed her time visiting friends at Figure Eight Island as well as spending time with Leonard’s son Jim and his wife Velma during winters in Havelock, the North Carolina beaches and the quaint fishing towns along the Carolina coast. But even though she traveled the world through her adventures, she dearly cherished her time at home, simply enjoying its comforts.

She is survived by her beloved husband, Leonard Royce Sharp of the Groves Retirement Community in Independence, Missouri.  He loved and cherished her and will miss her so very much.  She leaves her daughter Peggy Moad Hamilton (David), granddaughter Dr. Sara Fletcher Stowe (Jeremy), great-granddaughter Hamilton Lea Stowe, all of Greensboro, North Carolina; Christopher Fletcher of Overland Park, Kansas and Benjamin Fletcher of Dover, New Hampshire; son-in-law Laughton Shatswell of Deepwater, Missouri, granddaughter Stephanie Wheeler (Kent), great-grandsons  Grant, Spencer and Chandler of Hardin, Missouri; grandson Kevin Shatswell (Michelle)  great-granddaughter Kalene Shatswell (Riley), great-grandson Trent, all of Rogersville, Missouri, and many beloved nieces and nephews.  Through marriage to Leonard, she became a loving step-mother to Larry Sharp (Gaye) of Lee’s Summit, Janice Johnson (David) of Norborne, Missouri, Jim Sharp (Velma) of Havelock, North Carolina, Joyce Utterback of Carrollton, Missouri and Greg Sharp of Norborne, Missouri, and many step-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to express love and gratitude to the physicians, staff, caregivers at Groves Retirement Community and Centerpoint Hospital for their kindness and compassion over the past several months. Donations can be made in Frances’s memory to the Greensboro Symphony Guild Education Fund at PO Box 10408, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404 or LifeConnection Church, 3883 Blue Ridge Boulevard, Independence, Missouri 64052.