Colonel William E. "Gene" Sharp was born on November 18, 1918, just one week after the Armistice was signed ending The Great War. He was born into a pioneer family in Walla Walla, Washington. He belonged to the Congregational Church and the Boy Scouts of America. During high school he was on the Wa-Hi school newspaper and in ROTC in both high school and college. He was a pre-med student at Washington State University in Pullman where he met a sophomore business student, Virginia Scott of Kelso, Washington, fell in love, and proposed two weeks later. Gene and Scottie were married for 63 years. While in college, Sharp was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity and the pre-med honor society. He also received a commercial pilot's license. Two weeks after completing his flight training as an Air Corps cadet (Class of 41-G at Stockton, CA), Pearl Harbor was bombed and Sharp became a pilot instructor. His career in the Air Force spanned almost thirty years. He was stationed in various countries and bases around the world: Peru; Bergstrom AFB, TX; Barksdale AFB, LA; Vance AFB, OK; BW-1, Narsarsuak, Greenland; Maxwell AFB, AL; Site Y-11, Rabat Salé, Morocco; Pentagon, Washington, DC; Hickam AFB, HI; Randolph AFB, TX.
Among his awards in the military were the Peruvian Air Cross for accomplishments as director of flight training for the American Republic's Project of Peru and the Legion of Merit for exemplary service on the Joint Chief's of Staff. He held posts in the Air Staff, office of the joint chief of staff, Air University, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, was deputy commander of the 316th Air Division in northern Africa, and was deputy chief of staff for plans of the Headquarters Air Training Command at Randolph AFB here in San Antonio. He was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College. After retiring in 1970 to Shavano Park, TX, he was elected mayor in a landslide write-in campaign and served from 1975 to 1983. While there, he also served as chairman to the Bexar County Council of Mayors and was responsible for transportation infrastructure in and around San Antonio. He was a member of Castle Hills First Baptist Church and on various committees. He also served several terms as president of the San Antonio International Gun Club. The Sharps moved to Air Force Village II in 1997. There the Sharps became involved with the Protestant Bible Study class between visits to relatives in Washington, Idaho, and Paris, France. Gene's passion during the last few years was completing the famly genealogy and a history of the Sharp family dating back to Laubenheim, Germany in the seventeenth century. Col. Sharp was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Eugene Sharp and Mary Bates Sharp; his beloved wife, Virginia "Scottie" Sharp; two sons, William Eugene Jr., and Mark Alan; his brother Charles L. Sharp, and his sister Eva May Crothers-Saunders. He is survived by his son and daughter in law Dennis and Jane Sharp of Durham, NC; daughter and son-in-law, Sarah-Lynne "Susie" and Jean-Marie Le Canu of Kingwood, TX; nephews John E. Sharp of Spokane, WA, and Steven Crothers of Vancouver, WA; and niece Kay Bell of Dayton, WA; nine grandchildren and two great-granddaughters; and many, many friends.
Among his awards in the military were the Peruvian Air Cross for accomplishments as director of flight training for the American Republic's Project of Peru and the Legion of Merit for exemplary service on the Joint Chief's of Staff. He held posts in the Air Staff, office of the joint chief of staff, Air University, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, was deputy commander of the 316th Air Division in northern Africa, and was deputy chief of staff for plans of the Headquarters Air Training Command at Randolph AFB here in San Antonio. He was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College. After retiring in 1970 to Shavano Park, TX, he was elected mayor in a landslide write-in campaign and served from 1975 to 1983. While there, he also served as chairman to the Bexar County Council of Mayors and was responsible for transportation infrastructure in and around San Antonio. He was a member of Castle Hills First Baptist Church and on various committees. He also served several terms as president of the San Antonio International Gun Club. The Sharps moved to Air Force Village II in 1997. There the Sharps became involved with the Protestant Bible Study class between visits to relatives in Washington, Idaho, and Paris, France. Gene's passion during the last few years was completing the famly genealogy and a history of the Sharp family dating back to Laubenheim, Germany in the seventeenth century. Col. Sharp was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Eugene Sharp and Mary Bates Sharp; his beloved wife, Virginia "Scottie" Sharp; two sons, William Eugene Jr., and Mark Alan; his brother Charles L. Sharp, and his sister Eva May Crothers-Saunders. He is survived by his son and daughter in law Dennis and Jane Sharp of Durham, NC; daughter and son-in-law, Sarah-Lynne "Susie" and Jean-Marie Le Canu of Kingwood, TX; nephews John E. Sharp of Spokane, WA, and Steven Crothers of Vancouver, WA; and niece Kay Bell of Dayton, WA; nine grandchildren and two great-granddaughters; and many, many friends.
Colonel William E. "Gene" Sharp was born on November 18, 1918, just one week after the Armistice was signed ending The Great War. He was born into a pioneer family in Walla Walla, Washington. He belonged to the Congregational Church and the Boy Scouts of America. During high school he was on the Wa-Hi school newspaper and in ROTC in both high school and college. He was a pre-med student at Washington State University in Pullman where he met a sophomore business student, Virginia Scott of Kelso, Washington, fell in love, and proposed two weeks later. Gene and Scottie were married for 63 years. While in college, Sharp was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity and the pre-med honor society. He also received a commercial pilot's license. Two weeks after completing his flight training as an Air Corps cadet (Class of 41-G at Stockton, CA), Pearl Harbor was bombed and Sharp became a pilot instructor. His career in the Air Force spanned almost thirty years. He was stationed in various countries and bases around the world: Peru; Bergstrom AFB, TX; Barksdale AFB, LA; Vance AFB, OK; BW-1, Narsarsuak, Greenland; Maxwell AFB, AL; Site Y-11, Rabat Salé, Morocco; Pentagon, Washington, DC; Hickam AFB, HI; Randolph AFB, TX.
Among his awards in the military were the Peruvian Air Cross for accomplishments as director of flight training for the American Republic's Project of Peru and the Legion of Merit for exemplary service on the Joint Chief's of Staff. He held posts in the Air Staff, office of the joint chief of staff, Air University, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, was deputy commander of the 316th Air Division in northern Africa, and was deputy chief of staff for plans of the Headquarters Air Training Command at Randolph AFB here in San Antonio. He was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College. After retiring in 1970 to Shavano Park, TX, he was elected mayor in a landslide write-in campaign and served from 1975 to 1983. While there, he also served as chairman to the Bexar County Council of Mayors and was responsible for transportation infrastructure in and around San Antonio. He was a member of Castle Hills First Baptist Church and on various committees. He also served several terms as president of the San Antonio International Gun Club. The Sharps moved to Air Force Village II in 1997. There the Sharps became involved with the Protestant Bible Study class between visits to relatives in Washington, Idaho, and Paris, France. Gene's passion during the last few years was completing the famly genealogy and a history of the Sharp family dating back to Laubenheim, Germany in the seventeenth century. Col. Sharp was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Eugene Sharp and Mary Bates Sharp; his beloved wife, Virginia "Scottie" Sharp; two sons, William Eugene Jr., and Mark Alan; his brother Charles L. Sharp, and his sister Eva May Crothers-Saunders. He is survived by his son and daughter in law Dennis and Jane Sharp of Durham, NC; daughter and son-in-law, Sarah-Lynne "Susie" and Jean-Marie Le Canu of Kingwood, TX; nephews John E. Sharp of Spokane, WA, and Steven Crothers of Vancouver, WA; and niece Kay Bell of Dayton, WA; nine grandchildren and two great-granddaughters; and many, many friends.
Among his awards in the military were the Peruvian Air Cross for accomplishments as director of flight training for the American Republic's Project of Peru and the Legion of Merit for exemplary service on the Joint Chief's of Staff. He held posts in the Air Staff, office of the joint chief of staff, Air University, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, was deputy commander of the 316th Air Division in northern Africa, and was deputy chief of staff for plans of the Headquarters Air Training Command at Randolph AFB here in San Antonio. He was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College. After retiring in 1970 to Shavano Park, TX, he was elected mayor in a landslide write-in campaign and served from 1975 to 1983. While there, he also served as chairman to the Bexar County Council of Mayors and was responsible for transportation infrastructure in and around San Antonio. He was a member of Castle Hills First Baptist Church and on various committees. He also served several terms as president of the San Antonio International Gun Club. The Sharps moved to Air Force Village II in 1997. There the Sharps became involved with the Protestant Bible Study class between visits to relatives in Washington, Idaho, and Paris, France. Gene's passion during the last few years was completing the famly genealogy and a history of the Sharp family dating back to Laubenheim, Germany in the seventeenth century. Col. Sharp was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Eugene Sharp and Mary Bates Sharp; his beloved wife, Virginia "Scottie" Sharp; two sons, William Eugene Jr., and Mark Alan; his brother Charles L. Sharp, and his sister Eva May Crothers-Saunders. He is survived by his son and daughter in law Dennis and Jane Sharp of Durham, NC; daughter and son-in-law, Sarah-Lynne "Susie" and Jean-Marie Le Canu of Kingwood, TX; nephews John E. Sharp of Spokane, WA, and Steven Crothers of Vancouver, WA; and niece Kay Bell of Dayton, WA; nine grandchildren and two great-granddaughters; and many, many friends.
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