Alton R. Sharpe Jr.

SHARPE, Alton R. Jr., M.D., who brought joy into the lives of many people, died on August 14, 2008. Dr. Sharpe was a pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine. He founded the Nuclear Medicine Lab at McGuire Veteran's Hospital. As a professor of Radiology and Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia from 1967 to 1992, he was instrumental in founding its Division of Nuclear Medicine and served as its Chairman for many years. Dr. Sharpe retired from the faculty of MCV in 1992 and opened a private practice, Thyroid Specialist, Inc., where he treated patients until his retirement in 2004. He was a graduate of John Marshall High School, the University of Richmond, and the Medical College of Virginia, Class of 1953. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve as the Officer-in- Charge of the Nuclear Medicine Laboratory at Portsmouth Naval Hospital from 1958-1960 and retired from the Naval Reserve as a Lieutenant Commander. He was a fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. He was an active member of the Richmond Academy of Medicine. Dr. Sharpe was a member of various civic and social organizations that gave him much pleasure, especially the Polar Bear Club at the Country Club of Virginia, the Cohoke Club, The Crossgun Dove Shooters, and the Richmond Cotillion. He was a member of St. James's Episcopal Church. He was an avid wildfowl hunter and fisherman, and had a lifelong interest in history, conservation, and preservation. During his retirement he spent many happy hours at "Gales," his farm in Middlesex County, Va. Dr. Sharpe is survived by his wife of 54 years, Patricia Moncure Sharpe; and their children, Betse S.Trice and her husband, Winston, Jewett M. Sharpe M.D. and his wife, Lisa, and Virginia Ashby Sharpe, Ph.D.; and by his six grandchildren, Ned, Ida and Lucy Trice, and Russell, Parker, and Sam Sharpe; his brother, John G. Sharpe of Richmond; and sister, Joan Sharpe Lee of Virginia Beach, Va. The family will receive friends on Sunday, August 17, from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at Bliley's-Central Chapel, 3801 Augusta Avenue. A memorial service will be held at St. James's Episcopal Church, 1205 West Franklin Street, at 3 p.m. on Monday, August 18. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers and food, contributions may be sent to the St. James's Episcopal Church Endowment Fund, 1205 W. Franklin St., Richmond, Virginia 23220.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.