Sharon Darlene Smith

Born in Peru, Indiana to Olive and Darl Plotner, Sharon died, comforted by family and her faith, in Naples, Florida, peacefully and gracefully after a 20-year fight with a pulmonary bacterial infection. She graduated high school in Logansport, Indiana and obtained a Bachelor of Education from Ball State University. She was an artist and saw beauty in almost everything. Throughout her life she created beauty for those whose lives she touched. First as an elementary education teacher, secondly as a mother of two wonderful children and four grandchildren; Jill Louise Cockrell Ingrassia-Zingales (Luigi), grandchildren, Jacquelyn Sharon Ingrassia and Alexandria Jane Ingrassia: D. Kete Cockrell III (Karen), grandchildren, Tessa Rae Cockrell and Chance Kete Cockrell. In motherhood she was an example of character, strength and dignity exemplifying traditional values for her children and grandchildren. She was fiercely loyal to all members of her family and her blended family. Later in life she turned to the business of retailing women’s better ready to wear and was Vice President and General Manager of Plotner’s Style Shops located in Carmel, Indianapolis, and Franklin, Indiana where her artistic talents were well recognized in merchandising, quality and customer satisfaction; creating an in-store environment of comfort and understated elegance that drew shoppers for a radius of 100 miles. She was active for several years in the Children’s Museum Guild and co-chaired the haunted house Halloween display, again creating an artistic delight for children and adults alike. She followed the family tradition of her maternal grandmother and became an artist, principally after settling in a second home in Waynesville, North Carolina.

Perhaps her greatest artistic achievement was creation, as co-owner and Innkeeper of the Yellow House Bed-and-Breakfast Inn located in Waynesville, North Carolina. She considered it her “missionary work” to create a unique environment of site, sound and taste that allowed guests to relax, recharge, reconnect, and reflect in an exquisite environment of quiet music, scenery and reflection. During her establishment and ownership of the Yellow House it was considered by many to be the best bed-and-breakfast inn in the Southeast.

She is also survived by her blended family: Ron, her husband of 37 years, and their miniature Australian labradoodle, Sophie, Jeffrey D. Smith (Sarah), grandchildren, Katelyn M. Chrobak (Mark), Grace C. Franklin (Zane), Samuel J. Smith, and Owen M. Smith; Jennifer J. Milburn (Greg) grandchildren, Emily Ann Milburn Reinhold (Cole) and Atticus Lee Milburn and great grandchild, Henry Chrobak.

There will be a memorial celebration of life on May 17, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. at the Laurel Ridge Country Club, 49 Cupp Lane, Waynesville, North Carolina 28786, followed by heavy hors d’oeurves and wine. Please RSVP to [email protected]. Memorial contributions may be made to organizations dear to Sharon: The Haywood County Arts Regional Theatre, 86 N. Main Street, Waynesville, North Carolina 28786, Hart Theater, 250 Pigeon Street, Waynesville, North Carolina 28786 or Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation, Inc., 256B Industrial Park Drive, Waynesville, North Carolina 28786.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hodgesfhatnaplesmg.com for the Smith family.