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Please join me today and raise a glass to the life of Sharon O’Keefe
Sharon Ellen O’Keefe Meiners passed from this life on Sunday, February 2, 2020.
Sharon was born on August 5, 1947 in Long Branch New Jersey. She was raised in Massachusetts until the early 60’s when she was reunited with her older sister Nancy in San Bernardino, California.
She graduated from Granada Hills High School in 1965 and in 1968 she enrolled at California State University as an Environmental Studies major. She later settled in Placerville in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In 1977 Sharon came to Colorado to help a friend move back to California and fell in love with the Roaring Fork Valley. Sharon imm ediately returned to Carbondale where she lived for a few years before moving to Basalt.
Sharon and Michael were married in June 1992.
Sharon lived in Basalt until 1993 when she and her husband Michael moved to Sopris Village.
Sharon served on the Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission from 1983-1990 as well as the Town of Basalt Board of Trustees from 1985-1993. She also served as the President of the Sopris Village HOA Board of Directors from 1995-2001.
Like so many “baby boomers” Sharon worked many jobs in the valley, from lumberjill for Weavers Beavers to bartender/manager to legal assistant to office manager.
Sharon was a free spirit and will be remembered for her uncompromising independence, integrity and honest opinions. She was incredibly intelligent and genuinely funny. Anyone who meet her was captivated by her beautiful blue eyes and warm smile.
Sharon loved gardening, hiking and mushrooming. Traveling to Mexico and snorkeling in Akumal Bay. But she especially loved all animals.
Sharon was preceded in death by her parents and sister Nancy. She is survived by her husband Michael Meiners in Sopris Village, Stepdaughter Emily Kielmeyer In Rifle Co., Nieces Pam Poelker of Summerville South Carolina and Jean Atkins of Roanoke, Virginia, Nephew Steve Bonner of Hickory, North Carolina and Brother in law Gary Slusher of Moneta, Virginia.
Words cannot begin to convey how much she was loved and how much she is missed.
As per Sharon’s wishes there will be no services. Cremation took place immediately after her death. Donations may be sent to CARE in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.