Julia T. Sharpe

Mrs. Sharpe was the wife of the late Patrick M. Sharpe, who died in 2008. They were married in 1959.

She was born Aug. 29, 1935, in Wilmington, N.C., grew up in Teachey, N.C., and graduated from Wallace High School in 1953.

Miss Teachey from Teachey attended Wake Forest College in Wake Forest and was a member of the college’s first graduating class in 1957 after it moved to Winston-Salem. She received a Master of Library Science degree in 1983 from UNC-Greensboro.

Prior to her marriage, she taught English and French at Walkertown High School and B.F. Grady High School in Albertson. Mrs. Sharpe worked at college libraries in Raleigh and Fayetteville before she and Patrick moved to Mount Airy in 1964.

In 1966 — with a background in secondary education, during the implementation of integration, and amidst a widespread teacher shortage — she was lured into teaching second grade at Flat Rock Elementary School. She praised the principal for assigning only African-American teachers to the fifth-grade classrooms. In her later years, she often voiced frustration that African Americans of her generation did not have the same access to the education that she had received.

In 1976, Mrs. Sharpe joined the staff of the Mount Airy Public Library, which at that time was conveniently located across the street from her Pine Street home. She served as library director from 1981 until 1996, during which time the library relocated to its Rockford Street location.

“I’ll always love the public library because of the variety of the ages of people who come in and the wealth of material there is to discover,” she said in an interview with The Mount Airy News in 1990. “A lot of people say being in a library all the time must be like being in a candy store for a person who likes to read, and it is.”

While she lived in Mount Airy, Mrs. Sharpe was member of First Baptist Church.

The Sharpes were fond of cats and owned several. When Mrs. Sharpe moved to Massachusetts, Belle also made the move to live in nearby Pocasset.

Mrs. Sharpe is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Laura Sharpe and Joe Solano of South Pasadena, Calif., and Amy Sharpe and George Slade of Bourne, Mass.; one granddaughter, Amelia Solano of South Pasadena; one brother, John Teachey of Matthews, N.C.; three nieces, Paula Harris of Durham, N.C., Lynn Williams of Newton Grove, N.C., and Terri Hitchcock of New Port Richey, Fla.; two nephews, David Teachey and Kevin Teachey, both of Charlotte, N.C.; four great-nieces; and several cousins.

Memorial donations may be made to Friends Feeding Friends, First Baptist Church, 714 N. Main St., Mount Airy, NC 27030; Friends of the Mount Airy Public Library, 145 Rockford St., Mount Airy, NC 27030; or Surry Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 981, Mount Airy, NC 27030.

A memorial service/celebration of Mrs. Sharpe’s life will be held in 2021 in North Carolina.