Leaving behind a legacy of love, our matriarch, Sharon Joan Schaeffer Moran, passed away May 25, 2021 at the age of 72. Born in 1949 to Marie Dupuis and Joseph Henry Schaeffer, Sharon, the youngest of their four children, was raised in Baton Rouge, and graduated in 1967 from Istrouma High School as a flautist in the school marching band. Sharon went on to join the United States Marine Corps, becoming one of the few women to serve in the Vietnam War, and bearing the distinguished title of Vietnam War Veteran. After her military service, she married James (Jim) Henry Moran, embarking them on a beautiful love affair and bearing six children. They settled and began raising their children in Metairie before laying claim to Mamou as home in the late 1980s. There, Sharon returned to school and graduated as a registered nurse in 1992, the same year that her oldest son graduated from high school. Not long after the sudden unexpected death of her Jim, she returned to Baton Rouge, and continued her nursing career. Ever the adventurer, she retired as a traveling nurse, roaming the East coast administering her services and embarking on many exciting journeys along the way. Sharon is preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She is survived by her six children and twenty-one grandchildren: Daughter Heather and husband Michael White and children Blair, Michael, Jasmine, and Shane; Daughter Sharon and husband Gregg Rozas and children Alec, Miranda, Raegan, and Mason; Son Paul and wife Amber and children Sierra, Kade, Schaeffer, and Riley; Daughter Allie and husband Dustin Hopkins and children Sage, Layla, Jagger, and Jimi; Son David and child Ignatius Rolfe, and Son James and wife Tobie and children Laydon Dawson, Amelia, Ava, and Willow Moran. She is also survived by her three siblings Sandra Schaeffer Broussard, Sheila Schaeffer Melancon, and Joseph (Jodi) Henry Schaeffer, Jr. and countless nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her very recent, yet very real second love Luis Zervigon. We thank you for gushing over her with a passionate love she so longed for and appropriately deserved. She will be remembered as a lively and doggedly determined mother and grandmother, and will remain a source of inspiration to all who knew her. Sharon was a member of First Presbyterian Church in downtown Baton Rouge, where she worked in support services and volunteered her time visiting homebound elders. Visitation will be held in her honor Saturday, May 29, 2021 from 10 am - 2 pm at Rabenhorst Funeral Home (825 Government St., Baton Rouge, LA. 70802) with a celebration service at 2 pm by Pastor Jim Solomon.
