Sharon Lea Gaskill

Sharon Lea Gaskill died on February 9, 2023 after fighting COVID and underlying health conditions. Born June 11, 1938, in Omaha, Nebraska, she had a lifelong interest in the arts that included the love of painting as well as theater arts. She had a special interest in ballet from the time she took ballet lessons as a teenager in Memphis. True to her self-deprecating sense of humor, she adopted the nickname “Toad” after one of her instructors used the word to describe one of her failed attempts at a ballet pose.

Sharon lived a full life and developed many friendships, starting with Sue Perkins. Sue’s mother and Sharon’s mother were good friends who were pregnant at the same time, so Sharon and Sue essentially knew each other from birth. Her list of friends was endless—it wasn’t unusual for Sharon to find a new friend while shopping, dining or having a glass of wine at a bar.

She loved to laugh and had an offbeat sense of humor, and spoke a creative, made-up language with her family and friends. A small gift was a “sussie,” and then there was “whos-its,” “whats-its” and “gizzie” (any unidentified object). Once while listening to Garrison Keillor read part of the 23rd Psalm on his radio show, she convulsed with laughter after noting that the phrase, “…surely, goodness and mercy” sounded like the names of three women.

Sharon loved travel perhaps most of all, visiting many U.S. states and at least 20 countries, including Denmark, where her mother’s family was from. On one special trip, she and her brother Bob visited the church where their grandmother, Dagmar, was christened. The location had been a mystery, but thanks to Sharon’s detective work, she and Bob found Kierkebe Church, which dates back to 1100 and still contains the baptismal basin used by the minister to christen Dagmar. Over the years she found and cultivated relationships with several of her Danish relatives.

From Omaha, the family moved to Memphis, TN in 1951. She attended Treadwell High School and Southwestern University (now Rhodes College). Her early work life was in health care at UT Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She switched to IT after she moved to Atlanta, working in several places and retiring from Georgia Tech as a systems analyst. Even though IT was her work, she was not a fan of most technological devices, referring to her cell phone as a “dumb phone.”

When her aunt Addie died, Sharon happily assumed Addie’s role as chief communicator for the family. Addie had kept a family letter going and spearheaded numerous reunions. Sharon did the same.

She never had children of her own but treated her two nephews (“phews” as she preferred to call them) like her sons. One of the great joys in Sharon’s life was sharing meals with family and friends. Her idea of a meal was much more than just eating. Over good food and wine and candles, she wanted conversation to flow. She was always the last at any table to finish, and she was happy when she could get her dining companions to slow down and really enjoy being together.

Sharon was preceded in death by her parents Harold and Ann Gaskill and her great nephew Sam Gaskill. She is survived by her brother Bob Gaskill (wife Emily) and her nephews John Gaskill (wife Kim and daughter Abby) and Chris Gaskill (son Alexander), along with her four remaining first cousins (Richard Good, Peg Nelson, Jan Baggs and Gerry Thomsen) and their clans.

Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life service honoring Sharon at Franklin First United Methodist Church, 120 Aldersgate Way, Franklin, Tennessee on April 15 at 2:00 p.m. in Wesley Hall (main campus). In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.