Sharon Kahn, a long-time local, died on June 9th at age 77 due to complications related to Alzheimer’s.
Sharon moved to Aspen in 1968, after losing her first husband, Air Force test pilot Kenneth Funk to a plane crash due to a malfunction with his plane. In Aspen, Sharon fell in love with the beauty of the mountains and the free spirited and progressive community of the era, and eventually met her second husband, Martin Kahn, in the singles chair line on Aspen mountain, the mountain which she skied religiously until her mid-seventies. Sharon and Marty raised their only son, Ian, in Aspen.
Sharon was a truly talented interior designer and pioneered the aesthetic which has since become known as Mountain Modern, creating several of Aspen’s iconic examples of this style long before it was in vogue.
Sharon had a wild wit and an infectious laugh, and she loved creating a warm and welcoming environment both of her home and of Aspen in general. She often volunteered her time for Aspen organizations including Challenge Aspen and BOLD, where she particularly enjoyed sharing her love of the mountains with the visually impaired and with children battling cancer. Sharon also enjoyed supporting the Aspen arts community and had strong and lifelong friendships with many of Aspen’s seminal artists.
A true original, and a strong and bright-eyed mountain woman, Sharon will be missed by the friends and family she leaves behind, including her brother Gary and sister in law Lieueen Thomas, her nephews Roger and Greg Thomas and their families who always thought of her as Crazy Aunt Sharon, and most especially her beloved son Ian Cion and daughter in law Gretchen Cion, and as she would often call them, her precious, brilliant, and hysterical grandsons, Skyler and Keenan.
Sharon loved Aspen and for those of you who always made it her home, her family thanks you and sends their love.
The Spirit is Eternal, Nature is Divine, and Love is Universal.