Sharon Knapp

Former area resident, 78

LINCOLN - Sharon Lynne Knapp, 78, of Lincoln died of pancreatic cancer Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011, in Lincoln.

A celebration of life will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln.

There will be no visitation. The body was cremated.

Roper and Sons Funeral Services in Lincoln is in charge of arrangements.

She was born Oct. 13, 1932, in Kearney to Henry and Grace (Cannon) Peterson.

In 1953, she married James Knapp. He died in 1989.

Survivors include her daughter, Becky Anderson, son-in-law, Mike Anderson, of Grand Island and their daughters, Trish and Christi; son, Peter Knapp, daughter-in-law Cindy Jesson of St. Paul, Minn., and their sons, Brad Cousins and his wife Adrienne, Christopher Knapp, Nathan Jesson and John Knapp; and sister, Carolyn Niekum of Sidney. She leaves a host of friends who will miss her dearly.

She attended Kearney High School. After high school, she entered Kearney State College, where she majored in elementary education. While in college, she met James Knapp, whom she married in 1953.

It was a marriage, Sharon often said, that was never dull. Sharon taught in the Brady and Lincoln public schools while Jim attended law school. They moved to Kearney in 1957, where Jim practiced law and Sharon raised their two children, Peter and Becky.

Always active in the life of her community, Sharon served on the Kearney Board of Education from 1972 through 1976, and was the first woman elected president of that board. She chaired the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women and was an early advocate of Title IX.

In the early 1980s, she was the director of the Head Start Program in Kearney, and from 1984 through 1990, she was a member and then president of the Board of Trustees for Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. In the 1980s, she returned to school and obtained her master of arts in educational administration.

When her husband Jim died, Sharon moved to Lincoln and began the second act of her life. She authored curriculum for grief workshops and was active with Widowed Persons Services. In 1995, she obtained her Ph.D. from the university in community and human resources. She worked as a training facilitator for Wilson Learning for several years before retirement. Then, when retirement did not suit her, she became a business consultant.

During her time in Lincoln, she remained active as a docent at the Sheldon Art Gallery, a member of the Nebraska Committee for High Education and several other legislative task forces. She enjoyed traveling, the arts and spending time with her friends and grandchildren.

Memorials are suggested to Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, P.O. Box 880300, Lincoln, NE 68588-0300; Museum of Nebraska Art, 2401 Central Ave., Kearney, NE 68847; or Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, www.pancan.org.

Visit www.roperandsons.com to send condolences or personal reflections online.