Sharon Sue Hale

December 22, 1939 - October 24, 2020

Sharon died peacefully at home at age 80 on the evening of October 24th after over three and a half years living with cancer. During that time, she and her husband Jim spent every day together while she achieved almost every goal she set for herself including the wedding of a granddaughter, a wedding shower for a grandson, many family gatherings in Florida and Minnesota, a memorable bucket list cruise from Tahiti with all 15 family members, a farewell visit to her beloved lake home at Big Lake, Minnesota and the recent celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary. After an early childhood in northern Iowa, she moved with her family to the Fort Snelling military reservation where her father worked for the Veteran’s Administration. Children living there were sent to whatever public school had room for them, so she attended five grade schools until attending junior high where she met Jim. They dated for six years then married in 1960 and moved to Hanover, New Hampshire where she worked in administration at the local hospital to support Jim in his final two years at Dartmouth. She was paid two dollars a week over the base pay because she knew how to operate a dial telephone. After graduation, they returned to Minnesota where she worked for the Peace Corps at the University of Minnesota, again supporting Jim through three years of law school. In 1966, they bought their first home in Edina, Minnesota where she raised her children and made a lifetime of friends. She was active in civic affairs serving on the boards of directors of the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, the 1006 Summit Avenue Society that supported the needs of the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul, the Edina Art Center and the Edina Federated Women’s Club. She was named volunteer of the year in Edina in 1988 and years later named Person of the Year by the Foundation Fighting Blindness in Minnesota. In 2007, Jim and Sharon moved to Bonita Springs, Florida where she made a new wide circle of friends and became an accomplished bridge player. She was an ardent supporter of the Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida. In her family, she was always the financial advisor to everyone and planner of family gatherings including an annual all family trip or cruise to some exotic part of the world. She is survived by her husband, Jim, three children David (Judi), Eric (Wendy) and Kristin Parrish (Matt), six grandchildren Angelee Hale Danielson (Zach), Ashlee Kate Hale, Riley Hale, Thor, Jackson and Sage Parrish; four brothers and sisters Dennis Johnson (Helen), Kathy Somers, Bryan Johnson (Nancy) and Jan Black (Jeff) as well as numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. A private family memorial service will be held in the summer of 2021.