Leo Alvin Sharp Sr.

SHARP, LEO ALVIN, SR. - age 84 of Sevierville, passed away Wednesday, January 25, 2006. Maj. Sharp was a decorated Combat Infantry Officer in World War II, having served with the 27th Infantry Division in Saipan, Okinawa and Japan. He was later with the 79th Infantry Division and the 75th American Military Government Company in Japan. Maj. Sharp was recalled to active duty during the Korean War and served as an Instructor in small unit tactics at The Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was a retired farmer and businessman. He was the last surviving person who helped organize WSEV-AM & FM. Along with his step-brother Norman Burchfiel and others, he organized First Federal Savings & Loan of Sevierville. He served as Sevier County Delegate to the 1959 Tennessee Constitutional Convention. He was a 20-year member of the Sevierville Lions Club, serving as President and Zone Chairman; Chairman of the Sevier County Tax Equalization Board for over 20 years; Chairman of the Sevier County Housing Authority; Commander of the Sevierville Chapter of VFW Post 5123; Member of American Legion Post 104. As a farmer he was President of the Sevier County Livestock Association, a Director of the Farm Bureau and the Sevier Farmers Cooperative. Leo was a graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville College of Agriculture, and he was a member of First United Methodist of Sevierville. Survivors: wife of over 58 years, Lavelle Brown Sharp; son, Leo Sharp, Jr. and wife Barbara of Boca Raton, FL; grandchildren, Pamela Jane and Kathleen Elizabeth of Boca Raton, FL, and Rebecca Joy Bunker and husband Matthew of Puyallup, WA; a host of loving cousins. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to The First United Methodist Church, Sevierville, Building Fund, 214 Cedar Street, Sevierville, Tennessee 37862, or to your favorite charity. Funeral service 4 pm Sunday in the West Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Rev. H.B. (Buddy) Hauk, Jr. and Rev. Bobby Ely officiating. Interment 11 am Monday in Shiloh Cemetery with Full Military Honors. Pallbearers will be: Jack Tarwater, Chuck Atchley, Judge Gary Wade, Johnny King, David Goode, and Tom Atchley. Honorary pallbearers will be: Jerry Clabo, Bascom Fox, Joe E. Dodgen, Harold McCroskey, Harold Atchley, Clyde Ownby, James V. Turner, Dr. Horace Yarberry, and Dr. Lee Roy Dyer. The family will receive friends 2-4 pm Sunday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville. www.atchleyfuneralhome.com.