Sharon Sears Brown

Sharon Brown, age 67, passed away suddenly but peacefully on March 17, 2011 surrounded by her loving family and the even greater arms of her friends and co-workers at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. Sharon had an ear infection that unbeknownst to her quickly escalated into meningitis and overwhelmed her body’s defenses.

Linda Sharon Sears was born May 17, 1943 to Derry Dean Sears and Nellie Florene Hattan in Tacoma, Washington. When she was born, her Grandmother Agnes stated that she was afraid that with a name like Linda she would be given the nickname “Lindy”. Grandma Agnes announced to the family that “You may call her whatever you like, but I will be calling her Sharon!” It seemed to be a tradition in mom’s family not to be called by your first name as her mother and father went by their middle names also.

While Dean was off in the Navy during WWII, Florene and Sharon lived with Florene’s parents in Puyallup along with Florene’s sister-in-law and nephew. Grandma Agnes watched the grand-kids while the moms went to work for the war effort and Grandpa Howard worked in the Tacoma shipyards. Mom had many fond memories throughout her life of the times she would spend with her Hattan grandparents.

When the war was over and her Dad came home from the Navy, the family moved to Yakima. Sharon became the proud older sister to brothers Brad and Rob and sister Paula. Throughout her growing up years she was always watching over her younger siblings and taking care of them while her parents were out working and socializing. She was even surrogate mother to the family Boston terrier pup whom she named MacDuff because she was reading Shakespeare’s MacBeth at the time.

Her parents divorced and remarried over the years with both marriages bringing new siblings into the family. Her mom’s marriage to Al Meyer brought Mike into the fold and her Dad’s remarriage to Betty Sinnes brought Linda, Chris, and Gary Sinnes.

She went to grade school at McKinley Elementary where she met a boy named Bob Brown. Together, they attended Franklin middle school and then Davis High School. She took Latin and played volleyball while in high school and was on the Eagle’s drill team with sister Paula. Bob and Sharon graduated from Davis H.S. in 1961.

Sharon then went on to attend Nursing school at Tacoma General Hospital graduating in 1964. While she was in Tacoma, Bob was in Seattle studying at the University of Washington and she often went up for his fraternity socials.

On March 21, 1964 Bob and Sharon were married in Yakima. They were the first couple to be married in the new Ward chapel at First Presbyterian Church. As a young adult, Sharon would often walk down to the church on Sundays by herself to attend church services there. Bob was following in his father’s footsteps to run the family grocery business and took his new bride off to Lansing, Michigan where he finished his college degree in food marketing at Michigan State University.

Sharon’s very first nursing job was at Edward W. Sparrow hospital in Lansing, working on the medical/surgical floor while waiting for the birth of their daughter. Stephanie arrived in June 1965 amidst the tornado season in Lansing. In December of 1965, the family moved back to Seattle and son Jeffrey soon followed in June of 1966. The family returned to Yakima the next year and in August of 1967, son Christopher was born. Mom always used to joke that every time she moved, she got pregnant, so she wasn’t moving anymore!. Our house was always the neighborhood hangout and if your kids were missing it was likely they were at the Brown house in the swimming pool or getting carted off to the latest Disney movie at the theater.

In May 1968, Sharon started her long, rewarding, and exemplary nursing career at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. It was often said that she had worked there so long she had worked every job description twice. Sharon worked in the float pool, the emergency dept, the med/surg floor, neurology, surgery/PACU, and most recently her second tour as nursing supervisor. She was even assistant director of nursing at one point which required her to be the administrative liaison to the construction crews for many of the construction projects around the hospital. She even learned to read blueprints much to the astonishment of the construction guys.

But if there was one discipline she loved the most, it was oncology. Sharon led the way in how Memorial did Oncology nursing and twice was the Nurse Manager for the 2 E/W crew. The nurses and staff at memorial weren’t just employees to Sharon they were family. She was often mother, counselor, and friend, as well as co-worker. You always knew where you stood with Sharon and she was always ready with her dimples and a smile. And though she loved working at the hospital, this year marked her 43rd year there and she was ready to hang up her nursing cap. She was looking forward to her retirement and all the time she would get to spend with her family.

Bob and Sharon spent many years traveling for Bob’s business. Sometimes just the two of them would travel and go to places like London, Rome, Hong Kong, or Madrid. Other times it was a family affair and the motor home was loaded up and off they would go to Washington DC, Disneyland, or Yellowstone. Dad would be up front driving, but Mom would be doing one of two things: reading or napping. Mom loved to read and she could fall asleep anywhere at the drop of a hat.

In 1988, when many couples start to experience empty nest syndrome, Sharon took on her most rewarding role yet, that of grandparent to Jeremy. In 1989, when his brother Dylan was born, she and Bob became part of new generation of grandparents raising their grandchildren. She loved those boys more than anything and was so proud of them and the men they have become. Jeremy and Dylan were joined by Haven, Alexandria, Nicholas, and Mikaela and you couldn’t have found a prouder grandma. It was well known among Jeremy and Dylan’s friends that if you were having problems at home and needed someone to talk to, a place to sleep for the night, or just wanted to go hang out, you could always go talk to Grandma Brown for advice or a laugh.

Sharon loved her children and spent a great deal of time with them, especially her daughter and best friend Stephanie. There was nothing the two of them liked better than spending the afternoon together at the book store or planning their next trip together. They loved researching their family genealogy and roaming through cemeteries taking pictures of tombstones and anything to do with Scotland.

Sharon is survived by her loving husband of 47 years Bob, her daughter Stephanie, and son Chris and his wife Karen all of Yakima and son Jeff and his wife Lita of Black Diamond, Wa. She has six wonderful grandchildren Jeremy, Dylan, Alex, Nick, and Mikaela all of Yakima, and Haven of Colorado Springs, Co. She has her brother Brad and wife Barbara Sears of Auburn, Wa, sister Paula and husband Dan Regeimbal of La Quinta, Ca., brother Rob and wife Crystal Sears of McMinnville, Or., brother Mike and wife Rose Meyer of Yakima, sister Linda and husband Doug Thaut of Ocean Shores, Wa, sister Chris and husband Dave Wilson of Yakima, and brother Gary and wife Joan Sinnes also of Yakima. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and cousins and great-aunts and second cousins all across the country. Sharon was thrilled to make contact and visit with relatives that her daughter managed to track down doing family research that Sharon hadn’t seen or spoken to for years.

Sharon’s Memorial service will be held Thursday, March 24, 2011 at First Presbyterian Church, 9 South 8th Ave in Yakima at 1:00 p.m. with cremation and interment at Terrace Heights Memorial Park. Sharon was a breast cancer survivor as well as being an oncology nurse and there was nothing she was happier to see than the plans that Memorial and Rick Linneweh had for Cottage in the Meadows. She long felt that having a place where family could spend the final days with their loved ones under the care of hospice was a wonderful idea. The family asks that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to Cottage in the Meadows or charity of one’s choice in care of Keith and Keith. For an on-line guest book and to celebrate the life of Sharon visit www.keithandkeith.com.