BENJAMIN THOMAS SHARP

SHARP, Benjamin T., son of Garland Hill Sharp Sr. and Julia Ashton Sharp, brother to Garland Hill Sharp Jr., of Richmond, Va., passed away peacefully in his Palos Verdes, Calif. home on Friday, February 1, 2013. He was born in Richmond on October 21, 1927, and was a loving husband, father and family man. Benjamin, descendant of a long line of Virginians, received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was a member of many scholastic and professional organizations, including Phi Lambda Epsilon, Tau Beta Pi, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Senior Honorary Member of SAMPE. After having served in the Navy as a Second Lieutenant, and Assistant Supervisor of Shipbuilding for the 13th Naval District in Seattle, Wash,, he continued his employment at DuPont De Nemours, where he worked for 42 years, and was honored with the Marketing Director's Award for Outstanding Contributions to Textile Fibers. Ben Sharp, as many knew him, married Jane Shriver Sharp in 1953. With her, he actively participated in many social and historical organizations. They loved dancing with their dance group, Grandes Compa¤eros, and were members of the Scottish St. Andrew's Society of Los Angeles and joined in many of the Society's activities. Ben's love for history, historic preservation, and genealogy, inspired his membership in the Virginia Historical Society. He was a much loved and appreciated member of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Palos Verdes, Calif., where he served on the vestry, and was church treasurer for ten years. During his tenure as treasurer, he established an endowment fund for St. Francis, that continues to provide for the church today. Ben is survived by his wife of sixty years, Jane; three daughters, Jane, Anne and Julia; and three grandsons, Cesare and Ben Francorsi, and Samuel Hersey; and his brother, Garland Hill Sharp and family, of Richmond, Va. His life will be celebrated at a memorial service to be held on Saturday, February 16, at 11 a.m., in St. Francis Episcopal Church, in Palos Verdes Estates. A reception will be held in the parish hall after the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your favorite charity or to the St. Francis Endowment Fund, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.