Sharon Yvonne Boothe

On Thursday, January 4, 2024, at the age of 80, Sharon Yvonne Boothe took her last breath after a long battle with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Sharon was a resident of Apple Creek Nursing Home and Rehab. Prior to this, she owned a home in Bentonville.

Sharon was born in Decatur on January 20, 1943, to Emmett and Wanda Austin. They preceded her death in 1984 and 2013. Sharon was the second daughter in her birth family of six children.

Her siblings are Phyllis Phillips and husband, Byron of Bella Vista, Fred Austin and wife, Janice of Missouri, Lynda Clevenger and husband, Jeff of Flippin, Robert Luther (Bob) Austin and wife, Beverly of Decatur, and Janice Austin of Siloam Springs.

Sharon was a single mother to five stubborn and determined children; Twila Owens and husband, Bryan of West Fork, Lenora Beard and husband, John of Fort Smith, Trisha Nguyen and husband, Tho of Rogers, Steven Patterson of Rogers, and Michael Boothe and wife, Cheryl of Mississippi.

Sharon was a loving grandmother to Kandess Cossey, Travis Owens, Shonda Hinkle, Amber Patterson, Tashia Nguyen, Adam Kuhnert, Keisha Nguyen, Zachary Boothe, Hailey Dossett, Michaela Boothe, and Isiah Boothe; and she has 20 great-grandchildren; 16 nieces and nephews; and a host of great nieces and nephews. Sharon also has an extensive family of cousins and many friends.

Sharon graduated high school in Decatur, worked at CTS in Bentonville for over 20 years, earned her associates degree from Northwest Arkansas Community College in Social Work; and worked at the Benton County Democrat for two years. She also volunteered for the Bentonville Softball League.

She was an active member of the Bentonville Seventh-Day Adventist Church for many years and donated uncounted hours as leader of Community Services where she was in charge of feeding and clothing the homeless. She established the yearly coat drive at the church and even taught Sabbath School, volunteered at BSAS, (elementary school across the parking lot), and was the Pathfinder Leader for numerous years.

Sharon will be remembered for her no-nonsense lifestyle, loving a simple life with plants, gardening, and her cats Koko and Patches. She had a mischievous and sometimes irreverent sense of humor. She loved to travel and helped care for her aging mother prior to her death. She and her sister Lynda loved to play “train”, put puzzles together, and banter back and forth to the amusement of all present. She championed justice for everyone, and her children remember clearly being told that we were all God’s children regardless of the color of our skin. There were words that were never allowed to be said in our mother’s hearing. Her favorite holiday was Christmas because of her love for the Lord Jesus Christ and her love for giving. She departed this world surrounded by the people who loved her the most and will be deeply missed.

Dementia and Alzheimers are diseases that steal our loved ones. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Dementia Society at www.dementiasociety.org and/or Alzheimer’s Association at www.act.alz.org