Sharon Therese O'Rourke

Sharon Therese O’Rourke passed from this life on September 4, 2026 in Dallas, Texas at the age of 64. She entered this world on January 12, 1962 in Dallas, Texas. Sharon was the youngest of eight children born to Joseph Leo O’Rourke, Jr. and Evelyn Betty Polasek O’Rourke. Sharon was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Nancy, her brother John and her infant sister Angel.

Sharon attended Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas graduating in May of 1980. Afterwords, she was a student at Richland College in Dallas, Texas. She also attended the University of Texas at Dallas.

Sharon was a lifetime parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. She sang in the adult choir for many years. She also was an active member of the Ladies Altar Society. She faithfully attended the monthly meetings.

Sharon was employed by Firemen’s Fund Insurance Company in Dallas as an accounting technician until 2004.

Sharon loved the University of Texas Longhorn football team. She always looked forward to football season. She would listen each weekend to the game. Win or lose, they were her Longhorns.

For many years, Sharon volunteered at the Dallas Arboretum. In 2021, she received the Volunteer of the Year Award. Sharon always said that the Arboretum was her happy place.

Sharon was very interested in her family and her ancestry. She spent years doing genealogy research tracing the family tree back to the early 1500s. She traveled to Ireland and Czechoslovakia to do first-hand research. She visited the places and towns where the ancestral families lived. Her research is well documented with stories and pictures. Sharon’s research resulted in volumes of information regarding the family and brought the past to life. She also put together a cookbook of family recipes from years past.

Sharon was proud of her Irish heritage. She loved teaching others Irish dancing. She was quite an Irish step dancer herself. She won numerous medals in dancing competitions around the country.

Sharon was a member of the SW Celtic Music Society.

She was also a member of The Irish American Society of Dallas from the 1990’s until her death. She served as co-president from 2017 to 2018.

She spent many years volunteering at the annual North Texas Irish Festival at Fair Park in Dallas.

Her passing has left her family and friends who loved her deeply saddened. The memory of her life will be cherished forever.

She is survived by her brother Joe O’Rourke and wife Laurie of Columbia Falls, MT.; sister Mary Fishback and husband Bruce of Beaverton, OR.; sister Patricia Sutton and husband Michael of Dallas, TX, and brother Michael O’Rourke and wife Cindy of Dallas, TX.

Sharon also leaves behind 13 nieces and nephews as well as 16 grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Sharon will be laid to rest at the family gravesite on September 29th, 2026 with a service of remembrance at 1:00 pm in the chapel at Calvary Hill Funeral Home, 3235 Lombardy Lane, Dallas, TX., followed by the burial at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, in Sharon’s memory, the family asks that donations be made to Special Olympics Texas at https://giving.gofundme.com/campaign/842786/donate