Sharon Odekirk 1940-2023
"She Did It Her Way"
Sharon Odekirk passed away on January 3, 2023, due to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a deadly lung disease with no known cause or cure. Sharon was born to Isaac Warren and Elsa Zirker Odekirk in El Paso, Texas in 1940. The family moved to Salt Lake City in 1941. Sharon attended local schools and graduated from East High School in 1958. She graduated from the University of Utah School of Pharmacy in 1963. Sharon led a remarkably interesting life, working at an assortment of jobs. She was always looking for an opportunity to learn combined with a new destination.
During her working career Sharon was employed as a hospital pharmacist at St. Marks Hospital when beds were $18.00 per day, and Holy Cross Hospital which had a nursing school run by the Holy Cross Sisters. She worked at Corner Drugstore (4th South/9th East) in Salt Lake where the store had a tenfoot candy counter, heat vent in the middle of the floor, and a twelve-foot fountain. The local punks hung out there and the pharmacist was expected to help them with their homework in the evening. She next worked at Ohio State University Hospital to learn how to make IV additive solutions. She served on Project Hope, a humanitarian ship which sailed to developing countries in the 1960's and 1970's. The ship Sharon was assigned to traveled to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).
Upon her return to Utah, she headed to North Carolina University Hospital at Chapel Hill. While there she enrolled in the University of North Carolina where she received a BFA in Studio Painting. It was the 70s and she said: "She had more to do than be a lab pharmacist."
She was then hired by the Department of Army to work in the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver Colorado. In 1980, she returned to Salt Lake City to work at the VA Hospital. Always interested in art conservation, she applied for and received a Kress Foundation conservation grant for the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Fogg Museum at Harvard University. In 1983 she returned to Utah and worked as a conservator at the LDS Museum of Church history. In 1998 she was chosen as one of three people from the United States for a one-year rock art conservation course in Australia.
In 1990 she returned to the United States and found a position as a staff pharmacist at the Utah State Hospital in Provo, Utah. During this time, she also designed and built a beautiful home at Sundance in Provo Canyon. She later worked as a curator for Utah State History Museum for several years.
In 2011 she contracted interstitial lung disease which she had valiantly managed for many years.
Sharon was preceded in death by her parents (Isaac Warren and Elsa Odekirk), her brothers (Warren, Carl, Theron and Jerry Odekirk) and her sisters (Evalon Odekirk and Helen Clark). She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
There will be no funeral, at Sharon's request.
The family is having a closed casket visitation for anyone who would like to come on Thursday, January 12, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary 3401 Highland Drive, Millcreek, Utah
"She Did It Her Way"
Sharon Odekirk passed away on January 3, 2023, due to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a deadly lung disease with no known cause or cure. Sharon was born to Isaac Warren and Elsa Zirker Odekirk in El Paso, Texas in 1940. The family moved to Salt Lake City in 1941. Sharon attended local schools and graduated from East High School in 1958. She graduated from the University of Utah School of Pharmacy in 1963. Sharon led a remarkably interesting life, working at an assortment of jobs. She was always looking for an opportunity to learn combined with a new destination.
During her working career Sharon was employed as a hospital pharmacist at St. Marks Hospital when beds were $18.00 per day, and Holy Cross Hospital which had a nursing school run by the Holy Cross Sisters. She worked at Corner Drugstore (4th South/9th East) in Salt Lake where the store had a tenfoot candy counter, heat vent in the middle of the floor, and a twelve-foot fountain. The local punks hung out there and the pharmacist was expected to help them with their homework in the evening. She next worked at Ohio State University Hospital to learn how to make IV additive solutions. She served on Project Hope, a humanitarian ship which sailed to developing countries in the 1960's and 1970's. The ship Sharon was assigned to traveled to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).
Upon her return to Utah, she headed to North Carolina University Hospital at Chapel Hill. While there she enrolled in the University of North Carolina where she received a BFA in Studio Painting. It was the 70s and she said: "She had more to do than be a lab pharmacist."
She was then hired by the Department of Army to work in the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver Colorado. In 1980, she returned to Salt Lake City to work at the VA Hospital. Always interested in art conservation, she applied for and received a Kress Foundation conservation grant for the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Fogg Museum at Harvard University. In 1983 she returned to Utah and worked as a conservator at the LDS Museum of Church history. In 1998 she was chosen as one of three people from the United States for a one-year rock art conservation course in Australia.
In 1990 she returned to the United States and found a position as a staff pharmacist at the Utah State Hospital in Provo, Utah. During this time, she also designed and built a beautiful home at Sundance in Provo Canyon. She later worked as a curator for Utah State History Museum for several years.
In 2011 she contracted interstitial lung disease which she had valiantly managed for many years.
Sharon was preceded in death by her parents (Isaac Warren and Elsa Odekirk), her brothers (Warren, Carl, Theron and Jerry Odekirk) and her sisters (Evalon Odekirk and Helen Clark). She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
There will be no funeral, at Sharon's request.
The family is having a closed casket visitation for anyone who would like to come on Thursday, January 12, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary 3401 Highland Drive, Millcreek, Utah
Sharon Odekirk 1940-2023
"She Did It Her Way"
Sharon Odekirk passed away on January 3, 2023, due to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a deadly lung disease with no known cause or cure. Sharon was born to Isaac Warren and Elsa Zirker Odekirk in El Paso, Texas in 1940. The family moved to Salt Lake City in 1941. Sharon attended local schools and graduated from East High School in 1958. She graduated from the University of Utah School of Pharmacy in 1963. Sharon led a remarkably interesting life, working at an assortment of jobs. She was always looking for an opportunity to learn combined with a new destination.
During her working career Sharon was employed as a hospital pharmacist at St. Marks Hospital when beds were $18.00 per day, and Holy Cross Hospital which had a nursing school run by the Holy Cross Sisters. She worked at Corner Drugstore (4th South/9th East) in Salt Lake where the store had a tenfoot candy counter, heat vent in the middle of the floor, and a twelve-foot fountain. The local punks hung out there and the pharmacist was expected to help them with their homework in the evening. She next worked at Ohio State University Hospital to learn how to make IV additive solutions. She served on Project Hope, a humanitarian ship which sailed to developing countries in the 1960's and 1970's. The ship Sharon was assigned to traveled to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).
Upon her return to Utah, she headed to North Carolina University Hospital at Chapel Hill. While there she enrolled in the University of North Carolina where she received a BFA in Studio Painting. It was the 70s and she said: "She had more to do than be a lab pharmacist."
She was then hired by the Department of Army to work in the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver Colorado. In 1980, she returned to Salt Lake City to work at the VA Hospital. Always interested in art conservation, she applied for and received a Kress Foundation conservation grant for the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Fogg Museum at Harvard University. In 1983 she returned to Utah and worked as a conservator at the LDS Museum of Church history. In 1998 she was chosen as one of three people from the United States for a one-year rock art conservation course in Australia.
In 1990 she returned to the United States and found a position as a staff pharmacist at the Utah State Hospital in Provo, Utah. During this time, she also designed and built a beautiful home at Sundance in Provo Canyon. She later worked as a curator for Utah State History Museum for several years.
In 2011 she contracted interstitial lung disease which she had valiantly managed for many years.
Sharon was preceded in death by her parents (Isaac Warren and Elsa Odekirk), her brothers (Warren, Carl, Theron and Jerry Odekirk) and her sisters (Evalon Odekirk and Helen Clark). She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
There will be no funeral, at Sharon's request.
The family is having a closed casket visitation for anyone who would like to come on Thursday, January 12, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary 3401 Highland Drive, Millcreek, Utah
"She Did It Her Way"
Sharon Odekirk passed away on January 3, 2023, due to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a deadly lung disease with no known cause or cure. Sharon was born to Isaac Warren and Elsa Zirker Odekirk in El Paso, Texas in 1940. The family moved to Salt Lake City in 1941. Sharon attended local schools and graduated from East High School in 1958. She graduated from the University of Utah School of Pharmacy in 1963. Sharon led a remarkably interesting life, working at an assortment of jobs. She was always looking for an opportunity to learn combined with a new destination.
During her working career Sharon was employed as a hospital pharmacist at St. Marks Hospital when beds were $18.00 per day, and Holy Cross Hospital which had a nursing school run by the Holy Cross Sisters. She worked at Corner Drugstore (4th South/9th East) in Salt Lake where the store had a tenfoot candy counter, heat vent in the middle of the floor, and a twelve-foot fountain. The local punks hung out there and the pharmacist was expected to help them with their homework in the evening. She next worked at Ohio State University Hospital to learn how to make IV additive solutions. She served on Project Hope, a humanitarian ship which sailed to developing countries in the 1960's and 1970's. The ship Sharon was assigned to traveled to Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).
Upon her return to Utah, she headed to North Carolina University Hospital at Chapel Hill. While there she enrolled in the University of North Carolina where she received a BFA in Studio Painting. It was the 70s and she said: "She had more to do than be a lab pharmacist."
She was then hired by the Department of Army to work in the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver Colorado. In 1980, she returned to Salt Lake City to work at the VA Hospital. Always interested in art conservation, she applied for and received a Kress Foundation conservation grant for the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Fogg Museum at Harvard University. In 1983 she returned to Utah and worked as a conservator at the LDS Museum of Church history. In 1998 she was chosen as one of three people from the United States for a one-year rock art conservation course in Australia.
In 1990 she returned to the United States and found a position as a staff pharmacist at the Utah State Hospital in Provo, Utah. During this time, she also designed and built a beautiful home at Sundance in Provo Canyon. She later worked as a curator for Utah State History Museum for several years.
In 2011 she contracted interstitial lung disease which she had valiantly managed for many years.
Sharon was preceded in death by her parents (Isaac Warren and Elsa Odekirk), her brothers (Warren, Carl, Theron and Jerry Odekirk) and her sisters (Evalon Odekirk and Helen Clark). She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
There will be no funeral, at Sharon's request.
The family is having a closed casket visitation for anyone who would like to come on Thursday, January 12, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary 3401 Highland Drive, Millcreek, Utah
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
