Rose Sharp Gardner
A rose by any other name is Rose Sharp Gardner.
Our Rose passed away January 30, 2018 of heart failure. With her loving daughter Rhonda by her side they shared stories of Rose's life from sheep shearing, airplane wing walking and piloting a plane to running their bookstores.
Rose was 11 when she and her father, Perry Harrison McPhelps, moved from British Columbia, Canada to the United States where Rose started on a remarkable life path.
Rose never took anyone or anything for granted. She knew how fortunate she was to have two wonderful men in her married life. Rose met and married Donald Sharp, who had two young daughters, Sally and Marjorie. Later came Donald and Rhonda. For 38 years they raised their 4 children and had 3 bookstores: Albatross I & III in San Francisco and Albatross II in Tiburon. They lived in Oregon, San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma.
Keith Morrison, owner and director of The Phillips Library in Tiburon, was aware of Rose's background in antiquarian books and knew she would be able to manage the library. Rose gave wonderful events for 13 years, from art exhibits to yo-yo demonstrations to crafts of great diversity and she enjoyed promoting local artists and their works. A tasteful and creative array of appetizers was always served.
She met James Gardner at the farmers' market in Santa Rosa. He was wearing an aviation motif on his cap. They struck up a conversation and both were equally interested. Rose won the Ark's Valentines contest with an article titled "She chased him till he caught her." Their 5 year marriage consisted of flying, airshows and travel. They moved to a senior residence, Vineyard Commons in Santa Rosa, California. After Jim passed away Rose lived at Vineyard Commons for 10 years before she moved into a residence home due to failing health.
Rose had a large family. Four children, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. All except the babies, who didn't get to meet her, loved her immensely.
Those who are sad that she left us behind can take comfort in knowing she was able to free herself from the constraints of her body and her environment. All can take consolation as she flies into the sunset tipping her wing to us in a gesture of "goodbye for now."
Services can be held in your heart with memories of Rose.
Love,
Her family and friends.