Melinda Ann Sharp

Melinda Sharp, known as Mel to her friends, passed from a heart attack quietly in her sleep on the morning of Sunday October 30. She had not been ill, so it was a horrible shock that she passed so suddenly at such a young age. Despite this sudden loss, we are grateful that we had so much time with her. Knowing that she did not suffer gives us comfort.

Melinda’s passions were cooking, outdoors activities, arts, pets, and volunteering. She had a number of part-time jobs through the years and they almost always focused on helping youth or promoting art. As a senior in high school and her first year of college, she intended to study special needs education. Marriage and other events interrupted that dream, but not her passion.

For much of her early working life she worked for the Viewpoint Bookstore. The owners of the Viewpoint, Terry and Susan Whitaker, were incredibly good to her there and it was difficult for her to leave, but she also wanted to expand her horizons, looking for new challenges.

She spent several years working for the Foundation for Youth, first as a staff member at the boys and girl’s clubs, and later working as a facilitator at the Foundation for Youth’s outdoor rope challenge course at the Youth Camp. She had become a certified climbing instructor when she worked at Kids Commons at the time they installed their climbing wall. One of her fondest memories was a trip to Mount Rainier in Washington, where she had the chance to be close to the mountains for the first time.

Mel volunteered for many downtown activities over the years, and those led her to become part of the staff at the Columbus Area Arts Council, where she met many dear friends at the Arts Council, the Commons, and surrounding businesses. She would come home from work and always had an interesting story from the day. The friends that she made there supported her and had an enormous impact on her life. She would Initially claim to be “technically challenged”, but once she got her first smart phone and learned to text, her phone was constantly buzzing and beeping from calls and messages from her friends.

Mel was an extremely good cook and enjoyed making treats for friends that had helped her. Her cooking skills were stunted some by having a husband that considered cuisine to be a burger and fries, but she loved to try new foods anyway and enjoyed cooking for her children, who had more sophisticated palettes.. During the first year that she and Doug were married, she wanted to invite his parents to their simple apartment in the second story of an old house downtown and cook her first Thanksgiving meal. The day before, she decided that the apartment’s kitchen needed new wallpaper. They spent the entire night wallpapering the kitchen, and then she spent all day cooking the meal. She would joke about that over the years, hoping the new wallpaper wouldn’t start peeling off when the steam of the cooking started. She would go on to cook Thanksgiving dinner every single year for the next 38 years.

Melinda was an animal lover and would do anything for her pets. When Ruby, her dachshund, became blind, she would carry it each night to its bed, which had to be on the floor right beside her place in bed. She had Siamese cats of various dispositions over the years and they were always attracted to her like she was a magnet. In addition to leaving behind family and friends, she also left behind a small cat that was rescued from the garbage cans behind her mother’s house at least 18 years ago.

Melinda sometimes had a difficult childhood, but throughout that time she had a mother, brother and grandparents that taught her how to love and how to be strong. As a young teenager, her father came back into her life, and became Grandpa Bill to her children. She had a husband that loved her completely for over 40 years and considered her his angel. She had friends and family that brought her joy and laughter every day. Most importantly to her, she had two wonderful children that amazed her, delighted her, and brought her to Jesus Christ. She gave us a life well lived, and she will be terribly missed.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Bartholomew County Humane Society or the Police Athletic Club/Foundation For Youth. Online condolences may be sent to Melinda's family at www.hathaway-myers.com.