Sharon Louise Schoonmaker Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

On October 12, 2021 our beloved mother, gramma, sister, aunty, and friend Sharon Schoonmaker graduated into eternity and into the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For those who knew her and her vivacious love for life…her 79 years were way to short. Sharon was born in Lancaster, CA in 1942. She was the youngest daughter of Roy and Evelyn, and little sister to Beverly. Her parents instilled in her a love for life, family, community, and most importantly love and devotion to God. A 1960 graduate of Borah High School, Sharon went on to Boise State University and later transferred to Fresno State University in hopes of receiving her degree in Biology. Her pursuit of her college degree was interrupted, and she wouldn’t complete her Bachelors until much later in life. While in college she was working for the Pastor of their family church when she met Fred Schoonmaker. The two quickly made a connection and began dating one another. They enjoyed taking drives in Fred’s ’61 Corvette, spending time with friends and taking Fred’s rifles out for target practice. Fred and Sharon were married in January 1965 and quickly bought their first home in Lancaster, CA. They welcomed their first child, Michael in December of that same year and later Carrie, in August of 1967. In 1968, the family moved to Boise, Idaho to be closer to Sharon’s parents; the road trip was a source of many laughs as they made the journey in a Falstaff Beer delivery truck. In 1971 they welcomed their second daughter Laurie and in 1973 the family was complete with the arrival of Steven. Sharon elevated the role of homemaker. She was always busy baking cakes for the local carnival “cake walk”; sewing and embroidering beautiful dresses for herself and her daughters, some of which won ribbons at the Boise State Fair; entertaining family and friends; and involving all her children in various activities from sports to music. In addition to all of her responsibilities as a mother of four, Sharon ran her own playschool business out of the home. She watched and did early education programs with 8-10 children at a time, ages 2-4 years old. A devoted member of our church, she sang in the choir and participated in many church events. She was an amazing role model as a servant of the most-high God. In 1979, the Schoonmaker family moved to Alaska to pursue Fred’s dream of owning a hunting lodge in the Alaska bush. Sharon, a city girl who exuded class and refinement, soon found herself far outside her comfort zone. Living in the bush, away from all the luxuries of electricity, running water, and flushing toilets…Sharon, once again, rose to the occasion. She homeschooled her four children 8th grade, 7th grade, 3rd grade, and 1st grade. She taught her children to make homemade bread and even taught Mike to make his first pie. With civilization miles away by air, shopping for Christmas became impossible. Sharon made decorating our tree a fun craft project; we strung popcorn and each of us made homemade ornaments. Our family lodge experience came to an end in 1980 when the family relocated back to Anchorage. The higher cost of living in Alaska and purchase of a new family home required Sharon to start back to work. After years as a stay-at-home mom, Sharon took a job at a bakery supply company as a secretary. Although her career started off small, she soon excelled as an executive secretary in the Anchorage School District, where she quickly moved up the ladder of success. She worked in the Special Education Department, Human Resources, and at the time of her retirement, she was the Manager of Facilities for ASD. During those years of work, she completed her bachelor’s in business degree from Alaska Pacific University. Her younger two children, Laurie and Steven, remember her sitting at the table doing homework late into the evening, right along side of them. Despite night college and a demanding full time management position which required a 50-mile commute roundtrip to work; Sharon continued to be an involved parent. She attended sports events, youth group fundraisers, and continued to inspire her children to reach our full potential. After her retirement from the Anchorage School District in 2002, Sharon took a position for the non-profit organization CampFire as their director of human resources. She continued to work for CampFire for 7 years until her REAL retirement. Sharon always dreamed of traveling the world. She had many destinations on her bucket list; so, it was not long after retirement before she started out on her travel adventures. Sharon traveled throughout Europe (England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, and the Czech Republic), Africa, Australia, Peru, Israel, and Jordan. Some of these trips were with her dear travel buddy from Australia and others were taken alone with a tour group. All along the way she made new friends. She absolutely loved experiencing different cultures and visiting areas of old architecture and historical sites. In 2020 she was looking forward to a much-anticipated trip to Italy, Switzerland, and Oberammergau Germany for the “Passion Play”. This trip was to be taken with her daughter Laurie and her daughter in law Margo as well as her good friend from Australia. Unfortunately, due to Covid, the trip was postponed until 2022 and then eventually cancelled all together when the reality of her illness was understood. Many of Sharon’s travels included stops in Hawaii to visit her daughter Laurie and growing family. With twin grandbabies born in 2011, Sharon made approximately 5-6 trips to Hawaii per year in those first two years and eventually made the decision to move to Hawaii fulltime in 2014. She bought her first condo less than 1 mile away from Laurie and her family. She quickly turned in her snow boots for sandals and her dark floral décor for beach-chic. She flipped her visits upside down and lived in Hawaii but visited Alaska at least four times per year to attend holidays, birthdays, and events with her family in Alaska and her four grandchildren there. When she wasn’t away on an exotic trip, Sharon enjoyed gardening, decorating her new home, meeting new friends, attending aerobics at the local Kroc Center, crafting in her fully equipped craft room, and soaking in the Hawaii sunshine. Sharon loved living in Hawaii and not just for the obvious reasons. She loved the Hawaiian culture and rich history. She took great pleasure in entertaining visitors with trips to the Iolani Palace, the Bishop Museum, and the Mission Houses Museum. In 2019, Sharon welcomed a male into her home and her heart…a male puppy that is! In came Hanalei Inoki Noodles, a sweet Havanese with a heart of gold. Sharon was smitten and so was Noki; she loved him so much. The two were well known in the neighborhood as they would walk 2.5-3 miles every morning. Noki stole the hearts of all who knew him. His sweet smiling face would light up the room. Since Sharon’s passing, Noki is on a new adventure. While mom was ill and Carrie was visiting Hawaii, she and Noki formed a sweet bond. With Sharon’s blessing, Noki went to live with Carrie and her family in Alaska. He has settled in very well and is surrounded by lots of love and belly rubs. Sharon loved her family and was immensely proud of her four children and the children they were raising. She took every opportunity to be involved in our lives as much as possible. She was never too busy to give advice, offer a listening ear, or a shoulder to cry on. Her loving support was not just reserved for her family. She had many close friends who lived near and far and she worked hard to maintain close relationships with each of them. She was very involved in her bible study group, whom are affectionately referred to as the “Morning Glories”. Routinely she and her friends would plan a girl’s day. Often a shopping trip would turn into a full day of unscripted fun! And every Friday morning was reserved for her sister Bev and their weekly phone call. This was the routine that had been consistently maintained since 1998 after their mother passed away. At the core of Sharon’s being was her love, commitment, and her faith in Jesus Christ. She held a wealth of Biblical knowledge and was the perpetual student of God’s word. During 2020, she and her kids started a family zoom to discuss Bible prophecy and current events. It was the highlight of her week and ours to come together as a family and share our studies. Sharon would often marvel at the boldness of her children and comment that she was not as bold to share the gospel. She could not have been more wrong. When Sharon was suddenly diagnosed with a terminal, untreatable, aggressive cancer in July, she became very bold in her faith. She made it a point to share Jesus with every imaging tech, lab tech, doctor, nurse, and door greeter who crossed her path. Our prayer from the start was that God would be glorified through this cancer journey. We all learned to pray boldly and expectantly. In July, Carrie and Laurie organized a “Verses for Victory” party for Sharon. We hosted 16 prayer warrior women for a morning of verses, coffee, and fellowship. What many expected to be a sad tearful event, turned out to be uplifting and encouraging. Sharon, despite weeks of radiation and exhaustion, was given a spirit of energy and confidence. She moved about her friends as if she were hosting. She laughed, hugged, gave encouragement, and smiled her contagious vibrant smile. The gathering resulted in 20-30 beautifully decorated Biblical verses that we then hung throughout Sharon’s house…so that every minute of every day she would be encouraged by God’s perfect word. In August, when Sharon’s disease took a sudden turn for the worse, she made the decision to travel to Alaska to see all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her oldest grand-daughter, Leia, was pregnant with her 2nd …a baby girl, who was due during our trip. Laurie and her family escorted Sharon to Alaska where she got to spend time with each of her children and grandchildren. In those quiet moments with each grandchild, Sharon talked about the promises of Jesus and eternal life. Our family has been blessed with the foundation that we received growing up in a Godly home…the greatest inheritance you can leave to your children and their children is the love of Jesus Christ and His gift of salvation. Sharon’s legacy will live on in the lives of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Those moments together laughing and being together as a family were precious and although Sharon’s 2nd great grandchild waited until our return to Hawaii to make her appearance into this world, we know God’s timing is perfect and little Elora Jade will receive the same inheritance because of how her parents are raising her. You see the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” As a parent, it is our greatest commission. Many people fear death as they draw close to it, but Sharon did not. She was joyfully waiting to meet her Lord and Savior. Sharon’s salvation through Jesus Christ gave her full confidence in where she would spend her eternity. Her passing on October 12th was peaceful; with her four children at her side, she took her last breath here on earth and her first breath in Heaven. Following Sharon’s wishes the family did a private and intimate memorial service for her. She loved the ocean and especially the west coast of O’ahu. On Friday, October 22nd (exactly 6 years after burying our father) we released Mom’s earthly body into the ocean. We charted a boat and anchored between Kahe Point and Ma’ili Point with mount Ka’ala in the background. It was a beautiful day with clear blue water and amongst thousands of loose flowers we placed mom’s ashes. It was a beautiful event to honor a beautiful woman. Sharon’s legacy will live on in the hearts of all who knew her. So many stories have been shared with family by friends and acquaintances of Sharon. It warms our hearts to hear how she loved and was loved by many. Sharon was preceded in death by her spouse Fred Schoonmaker. She was survived by her children Mike (Margo) Schoonmaker; Carrie (Ron) Fleischhacker; Laurie (James) Fabrigas; and Steven Schoonmaker; and 6 grandchildren Leia, Hunter, Matthew, Timber, Kailee, and Noah; and 2 great-grandchildren Maverick and Elora; and her sister Beverly Davis. In lieu of monetary gifts or flowers, please consider donating to one of Sharon’s favorite charities. • Hawaiian Humane Society www.hawaiianhumane.org • Ho’ola Na Pua https://hnp.givecloud.co/give • Covenant House www.covenanthouseAK.org • Wounded warriors project www.support.woundedwarriorproject.org “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13 (ESV)

Sharon Louise Schoonmaker

August 24, 1942 - October 12, 2021