Sharon I. Ritt

Sharon Isaacson Ritt passed away peacefully at the age of 82 on December 21st, 2024, after a long and courageous battle with dementia. Even through the ravages of this disease, Sharon fought on and refused to give up on life, reminiscent of her signature grit, stubbornness, and sheer will to live life to its fullest. Those of us who knew and loved Sharon also knew that this unwavering persistence was a signature of everything she did in her long and full life. Her only regret in life was that there were not enough hours in the day.
Sharon was universally loved and respected by all who knew her. She was a powerful individual who had an enormous effect on everyone she met. She was a crusader for justice and if she noticed something unjust or unfair happening where she thought she could make a difference, she had probably written a letter to express her opinion. She deeply loved Judaism and integrated "Tikkun Olam", making the world a better place, into everything she did as a teacher and a human being. Always positive, always upbeat, always wise, she fought for her beliefs and spoke up for those who didn't have a voice. With the inner strength that came from knowing who she was, from knowing where she had been, and from knowing the direction in which she believed the world should head, Sharon knew how to be supportive to each and every person with whom she came into contact. It was the strength of her ability to be a friend. It was the course of her power to impact other people.
Sharon was born on November 15th, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. She lived in a brownstone with her mother and father, Mollie and Erwin Isaacson, and her two older sisters, Phyllis and Beverly. Despite the large age difference between Sharon and her older sisters, they were always close and supportive of each other. Sharon's life growing up was filled with love and connections with friends and family. Her large, Jewish family included many aunts, uncles and cousins whom she saw on a regular basis because they all lived near each other. She was involved in community activities from a young age such as the Girl Scouts and the B'nai Brith Girls, and she was always a top student academically. She spent many a summer at the beach in South Haven, Michigan with her extended family, and it was one of her favorite places to be. When she met and started dating Len, she regularly went to Fidelman's Resort to see him play drums in the house band. Sharon was beautiful, intelligent, musical, and fun! Len immediately fell in love with her, and they were truly meant for each other.
Sharon's greatest love in life was her family – her husband of 60 years, Leonard; her daughters, Gayle and Marjorie; her son Woody (whom she never called a son-in-law, he was always her "son"); and her two precious grandchildren, Madison and Nathan. Sharon cherished her very large extended family on both her side and Leonard's and consistently made the effort to visit family on every occasion she could. She was always there for her children and grandchildren. If they should complain, she showed them the positive side and always found the good in everybody and every circumstance. Her mantra was "people and experiences, not things." Sharon and Len took Gayle and Marjorie on numerous trips to national parks, museums, concerts, and to see family. In their retirement, Sharon and Len traveled constantly. Santa Fe held a special place in their hearts because of their love for Native American art. They also traveled the world to Europe, Israel, China, Australia, and New Zealand. At the end of each tour, Sharon wrote a special song about their experiences and the people they met in their tour group and presented it at the final dinner. She was always thinking about what she could do to bring joy to others and this philosophy permeated her entire life.
Sharon's great love for music was central to her life and she passed this love on to her children and grandchildren. She sang in the Flagstaff Master Chorale for many years and also played the piano and the guitar. Sharon recorded two lullaby and children's song CDs in her lifetime and shared these with her grandchildren. Madison and Nathan, have countless wonderful memories of singing and reading with their "Bubbe." Their home library is comprised of the many books she gave them over the years, as well as their own collections. They are avid readers and storytellers themselves because of their Bubbe's influence. They are lovers of knowledge because of her guidance. They will always feel her great love surrounding them and pass this on to their own children through what their Bubbe taught them.
Throughout her life, Sharon achieved many things, but her work as an educator was one of the things that defined her and her life's purpose. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1963 from Northeastern Illinois University in Elementary Education, her master's degree in 1967 from University of Tennessee in Social Studies Curriculum, and her Doctor of Education degree in 1977 from Northern Arizona University in K-12 Reading and Social Studies Curriculum. Impressively, Sharon had two-year old Gayle, and was pregnant with Marjorie, when she entered her doctoral program in 1972. Five years later, both of her daughters attended her graduation for her doctorate from NAU. When Sharon set her mind to something, she accomplished it. In the years after earning her degrees, she held many teaching and leadership positions in public education, served on countless education committees, and even held elected office, serving on the Flagstaff School Board from 1979 to 1986, including two years as Board President. For eight years, Sharon taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in reading, children's literature, language arts and social studies methods at the Center for Excellence in Education at NAU in Flagstaff. She also taught reading methods courses for two years in NAU's statewide graduate program in Phoenix. Her published articles in the areas of language arts and reading can be found in The Reading Teacher, The Journal of Reading, and Social Education. Along with her husband Len and two other Jewish families, Sharon founded Heichal Baoranim, Temple in the Pines, in Flagstaff. She held several different positions in the temple, including President, Educational Director, and Sunday school teacher. When Marjorie and Gayle had their B'Not Mitzvah, Sharon designed a special Ark for the Torah and had it custom built. It was the first Ark Heichal Baoranim ever owned.
Despite all these accomplishments at the professional level, Sharon was most passionate about being an elementary classroom teacher. She was humble and did not want anyone to call her "Dr. Ritt" when she taught as a public-school teacher. She wanted her title to be the same as her fellow teaching colleagues, so as not to elevate herself above anyone else. She taught for 20 years in Grades 2-6 in Arizona and Tennessee, was a Chapter 1/Title 1 reading teacher for 8 years, and a CLIP reading teacher for 2 years in Flagstaff. She taught 4 years in the Language Acquisition Programs in Fountain Hills and Scottsdale, and one of her particular passions was working individually with students who were English Language Learners. The positive influence she had on countless children's lives as a reading teacher is simply immeasurable. Sharon knew that exposing children to literature from many different cultures helped them learn to value diverse identities and different ways of life. Thus, one of her primary focus areas was using folk songs, folktales, and literature from around the world as teaching tools. If Sharon had a goal in life, it was to help children learn empathy, respect, kindness, and appreciation for others. In her retirement, she continued to be a presenter at professional reading conferences, teaching educators how to integrate art, music and storytelling to help children develop self-confidence, oral language skills, and a lifelong interest in reading. Sharon was the author of two children's books, "GQGQ, Where Are You?" and "The Three Clever Coyote Pups." She also received several awards connected to her teaching, but the biggest honor was receiving the Charros Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award at Zuni Elementary School in the Scottsdale Unified School District in 2003.
This is the legacy Sharon leaves behind. The world, and all those who knew and loved her, are better people because she lived.