Patrick Massey Sharpe

Patrick Massey Sharpe, 73, a longtime estate-planning attorney in Mount Airy, died unexpectedly on Sunday morning, April 20, 2008, at his home on West Pine Street. Mr. Sharpe was the husband of Julia (Teachey) Sharpe, whom he married in 1959. He was born October 30, 1934, in Greensboro, and attended the Georgia Military Academy (now Woodward Academy) in Atlanta, GA. He then attended Wake Forest College in Wake Forest and was a member of the college's first graduating class after it moved to Winston-Salem. He received his law degree from Wake Forest in 1959. Mr. Sharpe was an assistant to the North Carolina commissioner of revenue from 1959 to 1960. From 1960 to 1964, he was employed as a trust officer for First Citizens Bank and Trust Company in Raleigh and Fayetteville. In 1964, he and his family moved to Mount Airy and Mr. Sharpe joined the law firm of Woltz and Faw. He established his own firm in 1982 and maintained a private law practice until April 2006. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Gilmer Smith Foundation in Mount Airy. He had been a member of the Board of Directors for the Surry Community College Foundation from 1980 to 1986 and was chairman from 1983 to 1986. He also had served as a trustee for the Blowing Rock Community Foundation and the Blowing Rock Stage Company, both in Blowing Rock, and as a former director of the North Carolina Legal Aid Society in Winston-Salem. He was a member of the Mount Airy Library Board in the 1970s, resigning when his wife was named librarian. Mr. Sharpe was recognized by the Surry County Coalition on Aging with an Outstanding Service for Seniors Award. While he lived in Mount Airy, Mr. Sharpe attended First Baptist Church. He served as church moderator in the 1960s and as a member of the E.G. Wynne Sunday School class took great pride in the community outreach the class provided. Reflecting his expertise in, and fascination with, computers, he was at one time a member of the North Carolina Bar Association's Technology Committee and chairman of its subcommittee on automation. At an early time he used computers in his law practice and also wrote programs for use in the public library. Mr. Sharpe was also fond of cats, most recently Fievel and Milo and, before that, Buff, Buff and Sass. In addition to his wife, Mr. Sharpe is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Laura Sharpe and Joe Solano of South Pasadena, CA, and Amy Sharpe and George Slade of Monument Beach, MA; a granddaughter, Amelia Solano of South Pasadena, CA; two sisters, Patricia Owsley of New Port Richey, FL, and Louise Prince of Burlington; three nieces, Paula Harris of Durham, Lynn Williams of Newton Grove, and Terri Hitchcock of New Port Richey, FL; two nephews, David Teachey of Charlotte and Kevin Teachey of Surfside Beach, SC; and four great-nieces. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Friends Feeding Friends, First Baptist Church, 714 North Main Street, Mount Airy, NC 27030, or Surry Medical Ministries Clinic, P.O. Box 349, Mount Airy, NC 27030. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, April 23, 2008, at 3:00 PM at First Baptist Church, with services conducted by Dr. Roger Gilbert. The family will receive friends in the Fireside Room of First Baptist Church from 2:00 PM until the time for the service.