- Date Of Birth: August 24, 1935
- Date Of Death: March 23, 2013
- State: Colorado
Sharon Alese Hughes Jarrett, counselor, caregiver, chef extraordinaire, celebrity stalker, political operative, mother, friend, and confidante, died Saturday, May 23, in her home, in her bed, after enjoying her morning coffee and then lying down for a bit.
She was born a child of privilege on August 24, 1935, the daughter of a West Texas wildcat oil well driller. As a young girl she was voted Most Likely To Do Everything at assorted schools, camps, and sororities. She had her first car wreck at the age of 13, waving to a boy across the street and running into a parked car, a precursor to a lifetime of excruciatingly bad driving.
She continued her popularity follies into high school in Abilene, Texas, becoming Head Cheerleader, Editor of the school newspaper, and a Future Farmers of America Sweetheart, among her myriad accomplishments. She started smoking and drinking at an early age, moving on to a few brief years at Southern Methodist University, where she apparently majored in mixing Scotch and Dr Pepper and making lasting friendships.
Returning to Abilene, she married a promising young Air Force officer, Walter Jarrett, and settled into the dutiful life of an officer’s wife, being assigned to Germany, enduring base housing, officer’s club hierarchies, a husband who was often gone on duty, and producing three boys, Jim, David, and Jay in two and a half years, all before her 24th birthday.
After Walt left the Air Force and joined United Air Lines, they moved to Littleton and produced a daughter, Jenny. Then Walt joined the Air National Guard and left for Vietnam, and Sharon was again cast in the role of single mom for nearly a year, dealing with three adolescent boys and a baby girl. During this time she became a gourmet cook, a political guru, and stayed a horrible driver.
Upon Walt’s return from Vietnam, the original spark of marriage had difficulty staying kindled. She and Walt finally divorced in 1979, and augmented by the losses of both her beloved grandfather and father less than a year apart, Sharon fell into alcohol dependency and depression.
But then she got sober (November 21, 1981). And stayed that way. And turned her own addiction into a way to help others, becoming certified as a drug and alcohol counselor with Arapahoe House in Englewood, and working there for many years, helping others to maintain sobriety and learning to take life One Day at a Time.
Moving gracefully into her senior years, Sharon enjoyed lasting friendships with her original Littleton buddies, and developed many new friendships through politics. A lifelong member of the Republican Women’s Club, Sharon worked tirelessly on the congressional campaign of Jack Swigert, and the gubernatorial campaigns of Ted Strickland and Bill Owens. (Only in her final years did she become a closeted Democrat, secretly voting for Bill Clinton and twice for Barack Obama. Don’t tell anyone.)
Along the way she managed to be seen with a variety of celebrities, having her picture taken with John Elway, Colin Powell, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and almost (ALMOST!) bagging Tiger Woods. She also got several Christmas cards from President George W. Bush, although she never sent him one. Unfortunately, she never had the opportunity to meet her one true love, Johnny Depp.
Always concerned for the welfare of others, Sharon in her final years became a caregiver, offering time, love, patience, and devotion to hospice patients, senior centers, and most importantly, her own son David.
She is survived by her brothers, David and Hal, her sister Susan, her children Jim, David, Jay, and Jenny, her daughters-in-law Sheila, Vikki and Tamara and her son-in-law Tadd, her grandchildren Jordan, Erin, Jay, Brendan, Hayley, Alesa Rose, and Taegen, and a not-yet-born great-granddaughter.
