Civic leader Jean Sharon dies; service at noon Monday

Lillian "Jean" Sharon

Funeral services will be held at noon Monday at Midway Baptist Church for Jean Sharon, a longtime civic leader in Midway who died Thursday, June 20, at her home. She was 90.

Sharon served three terms on the City Council, where a daughter and grandson also served; was president of the Midway Women’s Club and Midway Parent-Teacher Organization, and was a member of the Woodford County Schools Hall of Fame. She was instrumental in building the veterans memorial at the Midway Cemetery and The Homeplace at Midway. 

She was the longest continually active member of the Midway Baptist Church, serving over 20 years as youth leader/director for various children's organizations; treasurer for many years; choir member; and various positions in the Women's Missionary Union. For more than two decades, she was The Woodford Sun's Midway correspondent.

She was born Lillian Clifton on Nov. 1, 1928 to Roy and Elizabeth Nave Clifton, and lived in Midway her entire life. She was the widow of Leslie Murphy Sharon, who died in 2016. She is survived by two daughters, Margaret “Peggy” Sharon and Cynthia Jean (Philip) Karrick; a son-in-law, David Warfield; six grandchildren, Wendy Warfield (Jonathan) Creech, Matthew Warfield (a former City Council member), Krissy Sharon (Scott) Fett, Mason (Heather) Karrick, Sharon Karrick and Spencer (Devon) Karrick; eight great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Helen Clifton and Elizabeth Clifton; and numerous other nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by a daughter, Leslie Elizabeth “Libby” Warfield, who died in 2018 while serving on the City Council; four sisters, Dora Faust, Martha Clifton, Frances Clifton and Elizabeth Clifton; six brothers, William, Charles, Oscar, Roy, James and Finnis Clifton, and her brother-in-law, Jesse Faust.

The Rev. Jeffery Sames will officiate at the service. Burial will be in Midway Cemetery. The pallbearers will be Austin Creech, Mason Karrick, Spencer Karrick, Scott Fett, Jonathan Clifton and Jonathan Creech. Honorary pallbearers are Matt Warfield, David Warfield, Philip Karrick, Dr. Norman Fisher, Dr. James Roach, James Johnson and Charles Logan. Johnson Funeral Home, where visitation was held Sunday afternoon, is in charge of arrangements. The full obituary is here.