Thomas Leroy "Boo" SHARP Jr.

SHARP, Thomas Leroy Jr., of Richmond, departed this life on December 30, 2011, at 88 years of age. Born in Richmond on April 19, 1923, Tom "Boo" Sharp attended John Marshall High School and Hampden-Sydney College. Tom was a World War II veteran, having served in the 79th Airdrome Squadron of the Fifth Air Force, where he was stationed in the South Pacific and received two Purple Hearts. He was a devoted father, husband, and grandfather and spent countless hours supporting his daughters at swimming meets as a volunteer with the Amateur Athletic Union, including serving as president of the organization. Tom was a gifted athlete and avid competitor and was good at every sport he played. He attended Hampden-Sydney on a baseball scholarship and was team captain of the championship squadron softball team at Hunter Field. Tom was a founding member of the Briarwood Swim and Racquet Club and a longtime member of Willow Oaks Country Club, where he won many tournaments both in tennis and golf. He was an excellent bowler and rarely lost at table tennis, croquet or hearts. He loved walking on the beach and riding his bicycle. He was a fan of the Boston Red Sox, the Duke Blue Devils, the Florida Gators and the Harvard Crimson. He was a long-term employee of the C&P Telephone Company, and a founding member of the "Aces" Club of Richmond. Tom was predeceased by his parents, Thomas Leroy Sharp Sr. and Norma Cowling Ragland; his sisters, Anne Sharp Clements, Margaret Shelton Sharp and Jenny Elton Sharp; his wives, Lucia King Sharp and Emily Boyd Sharp; and his grandson, Michael Dawson Woodard. He is survived by his daughters, Susan Sharp Beitzel, Margaret Laurens Sharp and Sally Sharp Lehman; his grandsons, Thomas Reyes Woodard, Christopher Michael Lehman and William Featherstone Lehman; his son-in-law, Michael Lawrence Lehman; and his niece, Elizabeth Clements Mims. A memorial service, followed by visitation, will be held at Bliley's - Chippenham Chapel, 6900 Hull Street Road, on Monday, January 2, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Michael Dawson Woodard Memorial Scholarship Fund at Fishburne Military School, P.O. Box 988, Waynesboro, Va. 22980.


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