Sharron Powell Grantz

Sharron Powell Grantz passed July 24, 2025 in Fayetteville, AR after a short illness.

Sharron was born in Long Lane, Missouri, September 4, 1947, to Minnie and Hurschel Powell, the fourth of four children. Her brothers were twins, Ronnie and Donnie Powell, and Richard Powell, all of whom preceded her in death.

Sharron was a first generation college graduate from College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri and later earned a Masters Degree in Library Science from Eastern University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Sharron taught English in Buffalo, Missouri for a year before relocating to teach in the Rio Grande Valley. She took a year off to travel through the West, a grand adventure shared with her friend Bonnie. The two of them worked at restaurants and lodges to pay their way as they went, before returning to the Valley, where she resumed her teaching duties.

In 1982, she married David Catterton Grantz, also a teacher who was farming trees in rural Southeastern Oklahoma. In 1983, the couple celebrated the birth of their first daughter Erin, who presently resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas; then in 1984, the birth of their second daughter Chesney of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Through the years, the couple acquired adjoining property and concentrated on reforestation and conservation measures to rehabilitate their property purchases, while rearing children, doing summer travel, and attending to their teaching duties. After earning her Library Science degree, Sharron established two libraries, one at Battiest Elementary School and the other at Battiest Jr./Sr. High School. Beloved by her students, she ran both libraries for twenty-six years before retiring to run libraries in Mena, Arkansas. In 2019, the couple retired in Fayetteville, to live nearer to children and grandchildren. David and Sharron also continued to travel extensively, primarily in Europe and the United States.

Sharron is survived by her spouse David Grantz and their daughters, Erin Grantz and Chesney Kenyen Grantz, and by grandchildren Nathan, Clara, and Tabitha Neil and Elowyn Arlo Griffith, sister-in-law Joyce Powell of Windyville, Missouri, nieces Teresa Coltrin and Tammy Powell and great-nieces, Jenny Sheppard, Tabatha Powell, Tessa Coltrin and great-nephews Brandon Coltrin and Ryon Powell.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, Sharron's memory be honored by contributions to sustain Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, https://www.imaginationlibrary.com/usa/, which has provided free books to America's children for many years.

Sharron's Celebration of Life event will be scheduled at a later date.