Sharon Stewart was an extraordinary woman who lived an ordinary life. She was born in Seattle and grew up in Ballard where she was well-known for roaming the neighborhood, making friends with everyone. She continued roaming as she grew, and she spent a lot of her time on adventures exploring Fort Lawton, walking to Puget Sound and swimming in the locks. At 13 she entered a talent contest sponsored by the USO. She so impressed them with her pantomime that she was invited to join the troop.  She was a local favorite with them and at Queen Anne High (Go, Grizzlies!), where she graduated in 1955.  She always felt she had a wonderful childhood.

She got married and had three daughters—Kelly, Shannon, and Erin– while living on Green Lake in Seattle. She worked at Boeing and taught Creative Dramatics for children. She had a dream of raising her girls on a farm and one night she called into a local radio talk show and talked about that dream. A listener contacted her and said she had property in Concrete that she wanted to show Mom. She brought the family up to the old Sauk Ranger Station in 1968 and that is where we settled. She remarried and had another daughter—Colleen—then added another—Jeanna—along the way. In 1974, she lost Kelly in a car accident 10 days after her 16th birthday.

When we first moved to Concrete, she didn’t even know how to drive a car, which was the first of many things she had to learn about living in the backwoods. Over the years, she became very skilled at managing a large property, and at age 75, she bought her first and only tractor.

Her career path took her down a winding road. She started an antique and secondhand store called The Katch-All in Concrete, then worked as a bookkeeper at Peterson’s Texaco, before becoming first the court clerk, then the town’s clerk-treasurer, an office she held until spending a few years on Whidbey Island as Langley’s clerk-treasurer. She also owned and operated a Christian bookstore—the Open Door—during those years, before finally coming home again and finishing her career as the payroll clerk for Concrete School District.

In retirement she split her time between adventures with her family and doing civic work. She enjoyed playing at the river and being with her grandchildren—Daniel, Aurora, Elizabeth, Joey, Linnaea, and Zechariah. Later she enjoyed cruising. She served on the Skagit County Boundary Review Board for many years, organized a long-running series of informational meetings for local people, and was the originator of Concrete’s Good Olde Days annual celebration. She was a fierce advocate for property rights and strength in community. In addition, after Kelly’s death, she spearheaded the revitalization of the Concrete cemetery—Forest Park—and worked to form our cemetery district, where she served on the board for many years.  

In 2023, she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. She fought her cancer with courage, dignity, and a toughness that everyone respected. She spent her last days on the property where she truly belonged.

Our mother had a life well-lived. She was strong and independent at a time when it wasn’t acceptable, but she had to be that way if she was going to live life on her terms. Which she did. And she passed that legacy on to her children and grandchildren.

A memorial church service will be held Jan. 10, 2026, at 1 p.m. at St. Martin- St. Francis Episcopal Church at 55223 Concrete Rd., Concrete, Washington 98237. Graveside services will be held separately with only the family in attendance.