Harold Sharp

Harold Sharp was widely known and loved by his family and friends all over the country. After 26 years with the Southern Railroad he retired and moved to Montgomery, Alabama to help his friend Ray Scott with Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society. Harold was the president of the Chattanooga Bass Club and was the second member of BASS. He worked with professional fishermen all over the country presenting fishing seminars and then he developed and ran the BASS Tournament Trail until his retirement in 1986. It was a job he developed from the ground up and devised and wrote rules and regulations still used by professional tournaments today. Hundreds of fishermen may never have heard his name but he is responsible for developing the safety rules and conditions for most tournaments today. He was inducted into the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2004 and was proud of his contribution to the sport.

Harold was an avid birdwatcher and organized the Riverwalk Bird Club whose motto was always “If it isn’t fun, we don’t do it.” What began as a family joke became a club with over 100 members who loved to go birding. He had a group who watched Roi, the peregrine falcon, at the Dam for several years and through several families of females and chicks. The Club loved to show their telescopes to kids and others who were on the Riverwalk. They were all photographers and had some wonderful pictures of Roi and his families. He was instrumental in getting the Public Art Committee to place a metal sculpture of a birder at the Dam. He and a small group of friends made and put up over 300 bluebird and swallow houses all over town and kept track of the chicks hatched each year.

Harold is survived by his childhood sweetheart Cyree (Hart) and they were married for over 69 years. They were each other’s best friend and lived and worked together and enjoyed their home and back yard flowers and bird feeders and boxes. He is also survived by his daughter, Ann Ball; his brother Don Sharp and sister Pat (Bob) Austin; several nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. He was preceded by his mother Vena, father Ernest and brothers Ernest, Jr., Jerry and Ronnie.

The family will receive friends from 12:00-2:30 Saturday at Chattanooga Funeral Home-North Chapel. Funeral services will be at 2:30 in Funeral Home Chapel. Pallbearers will be Donnie Sharp, Todd Sharp, Jeff Sharp, Cody Duggan, Dylan Sharp and Charles Woody. Honorary pallbearers will be niece Teri Lynn (Kevin) Duggan and the members of the Riverwalk Bird Club.

Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson. Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com