Sharon Ann Hazen

SHARON (SHERRY) ANN ELLERHOFF HAZEN June 16, 1940 to April 14, 2018 Sherry passed into the spiritual life quietly on the morning of April 14th at the age of 77 at the Fairfax retirement community where she had lived for the past year. She was born in Ottumwa Iowa on June 16, 1940 and lived her early years in Waukon, Iowa before moving to Des Moines at age 9 where she graduated from Teddy Roosevelt High School in 1958. She was a member of the marching band and orchestra as a flute player. She attended Iowa State University, majored in zoology, belonged to the Delta Zeta Sorority and met her future husband there. She was active in radio workshops, a performer in NIADS synchronize swimming group and the honors society. Graduating in 1962 she began doing virus research for CDC in Kansas City, MO. Upon her marriage in 1964 to Lt. Hazen, they flew to Darmstadt, Germany where she entered into her 29 year career as an Army wife to include 13 years in Europe over three decades. Sherry was a renaissance woman, there wasn’t anything that she tried that she was not successful in accomplishing. She was a fantastic cook and knew how to throw a great party; she was a seamstress and made Gigi’s prom dresses and her first business suit; she knitted and did needlepoint; she was an artist and mastered water colors, old master painting techniques in oil, stain glass, photography, calligraphy; she was a musician including the piano and flute; she loved the theater as actress, director and volunteer at Santa Barbara International Film Festival; she volunteered for Red Cross, Women’s Club, German American Club with Don, and countless other organizations. She also loved to play all sorts of games with friends and family. She was particularly fond of Santa Barbara and loved fleur de lis. She loved to travel and explore and with family and many friends over the years she visited countless countries and cities exploring the history and foods of those places. Above all she was a wonderful homemaker, wife and mom. She volunteered as reading assistance in the kids schools, volunteered for field trips, theater performances (including makeup artist) and bake sales, and made a loving, gracious home for the family. She knew how to make each person feel special particularly when it was a special occasion like promotion, birthday or award. She was a life long member of the Episcopal Church, was active in the order of St. Luke’s and was a member of the St. LUKE’S Episcopal Church parish in Alexandria for 17 years. For Decades she was an active member of the Association of American University women, the Smithsonian Institute and the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Colonel Donald Emerson Hazen USA (Retired), their daughter Gigi Hazen Galbraith and husband Richard Williams Galbraith and grandsons Ralston and Reagan, her brothers Thomas M. Ellerhoff of Helena, MT and James A. Ellerhoff of Des Moines, IA. Her son, Charles Emerson Hazen preceded her in death in 2012. Services will be held at 3pm August 21, 2018 at the Old Post Chapel, Ft. Meyer followed by burial at Arlington National Cemetery. A reception follows at the Ft Meyer’s Patton Officers Club. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Luke’s Church attn: Sherry Hazen Memorial, 8009 Ft Hunt Rd, Alexandria, VA 22308