Sharon Goeppner Fry

On July 11, 2024, Sharon Goeppner Fry, of Fairfax, Virginia, was at home surrounded by family when she succumbed to a broken heart after losing her beloved husband of 67 years, Clifton J. Fry, Jr. (Clif), this past Valentine's Day. Sharon was born March 23, 1937, in Jasper, Indiana, to Walter Joseph Goeppner (Wally) and Alberta Kelley Goeppner. The oldest of three daughters, Sharon was raised in classic small-town middle-America. Her dad was a furniture maker with the Jasper Cabinet Company who also liked to brew his own German beer and her mother was a woman of strong faith who ensured Sharon was baptized and confirmed at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Jasper. Like her parents, Sharon was a hard worker and was waitressing at the Wheelstop her senior year in high school when she met Clif who was traveling through town on assignment with the US Geological Survey. Legend has it that Sharon’s work friend met Clif a few days before and switched shifts with Sharon so she would be at the diner when he next visited. It was love at first sight! Clif gave Sharon an engagement ring when she graduated from Jasper High School in 1955. Married on May 12, 1956, their wedding reception was at the Calument Lake dance hall with entertainment by Boots Randolph on sax and Big Mo on the horn. Winners of several jitterbug competitions, Sharon and Clif had befriended Boots and Mo while dancing at the Rustic Ballroom to the rockabilly tunes of Muscle Shoals born, Boyd Bennett, and his band The Rockets. Sharon loved music and would grab Clif (or any one of her kids) to dance around the living room when she heard a good song. But Sharon was not frivolous. She was better described with other “f” words: frugal, feisty, funny, filtered(not!), fierce (almost everyone was a little intimidated by Sharon), and above all, Family First. After marrying in Jasper, Sharon accompanied Clif while he surveyed and mapped much of the western U.S, adding four boys along the way (David, Ryan, Dan and Joe). Home movies show Sharon fashionably dressed, neat and trim, while some combination of the boys (or all four in different directions!) rambunctiously exploring a National Park. Ultimately, work brought the family to Virginia, where Sharon gave birth to a girl (finally! - Janice) while she was vacationing with her sister-in-law, Pat Fry, in Long Beach Island, NJ. Only Sharon would think it a vacation to take 4 little boys to the beach while 8 months pregnant. Three years later they added another daughter (surprise! - Nancy). Settling in a classic, 60’s brick rambler in the City of Fairfax,Virginia, Sharon was a Super Mom: PTA, Boy Scouts and Brownies, Little League scorekeeper and field trip chaperone. She could sew a dress, darn socks and mend anything (and she made sure all the kids learned the same skills). Dinner was always on the table at 6:00 pm and the house was always neat and organized (heaven help anyone who didn't put something back in its place). Sharon had other interests, too. She joined the Garden Club and loved to work in her yard. She enjoyed decorating and improving her home. Wallpapering, painting, reupholstering couches and chairs, refinishing many “curbside acquisitions” and adding a bathroom (which finally made 2 for a family of 8). If she couldn’t just do it herself (usually she could), Sharon and Clif did all the work as a team. They also belonged to the bowling league together, took the family on numerous travels and camping adventures, and, of course, they danced. We are sure Sharon and Clif are doing the jitterbug again now! Sharon is survived by her six children, David (Cathy) Fry, Ryan (Cene) Fry, Daniel Fry, Joseph Fry, Janice (Mac) McGarity, and Nancy Loftus, along with her fourteen grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and numerous beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family. She is also survived by her sister, Colleen (Allen) Lewis. Sharon is predeceased by her husband of 67 years, Clifton Jones Fry, Jr. of Muncy, Pennsylvania, her parents, Walter and Alberta Goeppner, her sister, Dianne Reuber, her daughter-in-law, Dana McGilvary Fry, and her grandson, Reid McGarity. A Celebration of Life for Sharon will be held Friday, December 27, 2024 at 12:00 PM at Demaine Fairfax Funeral Home, 10565 Main St, Fairfax, Virginia 22030. Following the visitation will be a graveside service at 2:00 PM at Fairfax City Cemetery, 10567 Main St, Fairfax, Virginia 22030. The family will host a reception at Patriots Pub and Grill, 10560 Main St., Fairfax, immediately after the visitation. The Friday morning Mass will be offered for the repose of Sharon’s soul on December 27, 2024, at 9:00 am at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, 3700 Old Lee Hwy., Fairfax, Va 22030.