August 18, 1948 – September 22, 2024
Paula Ann Whitten Sharp, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully on September 22, 2024 surrounded by those whom she loved and who loved her. Paula was born on August 18, 1948 in Selmer, Tennessee and spent her childhood in Memphis and Vermilion, Ohio. In 1970, she married her high school sweetheart and husband of 54 years, Leburn “Lee” E. Sharp who survives her. Paula taught elementary education for over 30 years and was passionate about the need for all young children to receive love, knowledge, and support during their formative years. It is not an overstatement to say that she influenced and inspired over 1,000 children in her career with the love of learning and intellectual curiosity that a teacher shares with her students. She was also an avid nature-lover and was known to spend long afternoons at her home in the Great Smoky Mountains bird watching and enjoying the wildlife.
In addition to her husband, Paula is survived by her daughter Neely Sharp Griffith and husband Steven Franklin Griffith, Jr. of New Orleans, and her son Matthew Duncan Sharp and his wife Tiffany Grist Sharp of Collierville. She continues to watch over four treasured grandchildren who knew her as Grandmommy, each of whom will remember her for her deepest love: Catherine Elise Griffith and Josephine Franklin Griffith of New Orleans, and Presley Ruth Sharp and Levi William Sharp of Collierville. Paula was preceded in death by her parents, William B. Whitten and Elsie Duncan Whitten of Memphis, her brother, James William Mitchell Whitten, her mother-in-law, Joan Neale Sharp Warf, and her father-in-law, Earl Q. Sharp.
Paula is also survived by her life-long friend, confidant, and sister, Wanda Whitten Atkins and husband Donald Pike Atkins, as well as a large extended family. Her unwavering patience, love, and commitment to family are but a small part of the legacy which will continue to serve as an inspiration for her family. Friends and family are invited to the visitation on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 from 9:00-10:00 a.m., with a Celebration of Life to follow at 10:00 a.m., at the Collierville Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing cures and preventative treatments for pediatric cancer, www.stjude.org.
