Earl Kurtis Sharar
The family and friends of Earl Kurtis Sharar mourn his death on November 30, 2015. Kurt was born to Vernon Lafe Sharar and Shirley (Burke) Sharar on December 22, 1940 in Ogden Utah. His early years were spent in Ogden and Sparks Nevada before moving to Eugene Oregon.
Graduating from high school in Eugene, Kurt began his college education at the University of Oregon. After a hiatus with the U.S. Army during the Cuban missile crisis, Kurt returned to the U of O and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism. After a brief stint as a reporter in Condon Oregon, Kurt went to work for the Bremerton Sun newspaper where he was a reporter and wrote a column called "Sunspots". Here he met his first wife Charen and stepdaughter Kelly as well as many friends he would keep for the rest of his life.
After many happy years at the Sun, Kurt found the new professional challenge he was looking for as a lobbyist for the Washington State Association of Counties where he represented interests of all 39 counties on legislation and budget matters. Among his many accomplishments, he was a key player in securing major funding for much needed jail construction across the state and played key roles in juvenile justice, adult justice and court reform.
In 1975 Kurt met Jan Chambers and on July 4, 1976 they were married at her family home in Lacey. They eventually bought their first home in N.E. Thurston County and later a cabin on the Long Beach Peninsula on the Washington coast. Kurt continued his employment with WSAC until retirement in 1997 when they moved to rural Kittitas County. Here they traded in the gray and rainy weather of the west side of the Cascades for the windy and sunny weather of Central Washington.
In 2001, Kurt graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in history. An avid reader all of his adult life, Kurt devoured history books for many years and when talking about their contents, it was almost believable he lived in the times he read about.
After Jan retired, they began their international adventures traveling to New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica, Canada, Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Prior travels in the States included 2 trips to Virginia and D.C. and many states in the west.
Anyone who knew Kurt knew he loved U of O Duck football. After giving up their Seahawk season tickets, he and Jan traveled to numerous Oregon home games over many years. His life long buddy Jim and wife Sharon joined them for many games at Autzen Stadium. No doubt the zenith of his football career was attending the first national championship game in 2014 with his friend Jim.
Kurt was a reuniter of friends and estranged family members. He reached out to people to bring them together, sometimes after decades of separation. Sometimes known as a curmudgeon, Kurt's optimism and humor were always evident.
Kurt is survived by Jan, his wife of 39 years, sister Kathy, sister-in-law Patrice, stepdaughter Kelly, cousins, several nieces, a nephew and dear friends too numerous to count.
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Published in Daily Record on Jan. 2, 2016. |
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1940 - 2015 (74 år)
Has ingen aner og ingen etterkommere i Familietreet.
1943 - 2016 (73 år)
Charen Janice Chrey, f. 23 Feb 1943, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA