At the age of 97, Joan Sharrow passed away peacefully at North Star Retirement Community in Coeur d'Alene on Sunday, May 17, 2015. She was surrounded by the love of family and friends. Joan was born in San Francisco in 1918 and raised in Mill Valley, Calif.

A neighbor introduced Joan to a handsome Marine named Harold Howard Sharrow. They were married in 1940 and lived in the Marin County town of San Anselmo for 30 years.

Joan was always active in community activities. She loved children and enjoyed serving as a leader of Campfire and Cub Scout groups and received the PTA Founders Day Award. Joan was involved in Masonic activities. She was a proud member of the Eastern Star and a tireless volunteer for the youth organizations of the Masonic Lodge, Job's Daughters and the Order of the DeMolay.

Joan always had a love for learning. She graduated with honors from Mount Tamapais High School and attended the University of California at Berkeley. She traded her books for the full-time job of homemaker and business partner with her husband, Harold, before graduating. When her nest was empty, she returned to college at San Francisco State to complete her degree earning a B.S. in geography.

A love of serene natural beauty, wildlife and water sports drew the Sharrows to a ranch in Bayview, Idaho. Joan was a woman of deep faith attending church regularly at Saint Agnes in Sandpoint. She served as a delegate for many years in the Spokane Diocese. When she moved from her ranch in Bayview to the North Star Retirement Community, you would see her every Sunday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. She served on the board of Camp Cross located on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Joan was a woman of great intellectual curiosity reading the Wall Street Journal, news magazines, novels and traveling throughout the world.

Joan faced the challenges of her life with grace and dignity. She was loved by many and was an inspiration to all who knew her. She was a beacon of light and brought cheer to everyone she met.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Harold, in 1975. She is survived by her children, Linda Hailey and her husband Warren, Jane Ligon and her spouse Bill, and Steven Sharrow and his wife Peggy. Her grandchildren are David Reis and his wife Jackie, and Cheri Barton; and her great-grandchildren are Evan Barton, Nicholas, Brandon and Ashley Reis.

A celebration of Joan's life will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, 2015, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 501 East Wallace Ave., Coeur d'Alene.

Contributions may be made to St. Luke's Camp Cross Scholarship Fund at campcross.spokanediocese.org.