Bill SHARPE

SHARPE, Bill, 59, of Tampa, FL, died April 2, 2012. He is remembered as "a man of many dreams and a soft heart. His vision was always more than his reality. Everyone he met was his friend." A lifelong entrepreneur and longtime community advocate, Sharpe was president of Tampa Marketing Co., publisher of the South Tampa Community News and the founder and publisher of Tampa Epoch, a monthly publication started in 2011 that provides a source of income for the homeless. Sharpe was well known for organizing numerous fundraising events that benefited community causes, pets and people. He was also a fixture at meetings and public hearings addressing issues directly impacting South Tampa and Davis Islands. A longtime resident of Tampa's SoHo (South Howard) neighborhood, Sharpe initially got into online publishing by launching the SoHoTampa.com web site in 2001. Prior to managing that web-based business full time, he sold recreational vehicles. Born in Georgia and raised in Dunedin, Sharpe moved to Tampa from the Ocala area where he owned and operated a well known bar and live music venue in Belleview known as Mr. Pub. During that 10-year period, he became affectionately known as Mr. Bill. A veracious reader and zealous political activist, Sharpe played a significant role in Pinellas County and statewide Democratic politics in the 1980s. A former chair of the Pinellas County Democratic Party, he served as Pinellas chairman of the John Glenn for President Campaign and was a delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention which nominated Jimmy Carter for President. Sharpe was a founding member of Tampa Bay Ad Club 2, treasurer of the Tampa International Trade Council, a graduate of both the Leadership St. Pete and Leadership Tampa Bay programs, chair of the Pinellas County Soil and Water Conservation District and served as president of the Davis Islands Chamber of Commerce. An outdoors enthusiast, Sharpe enjoyed camping as well as canoeing hundreds of miles of Florida waterways with close friends. He particularly enjoyed a seven-day cycling event called the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGRAI) covering nearly 500 miles that he participated in many times. His love of travel included exotic adventures like hiking the Inca Trail in Peru, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and spending a month in the Himalayas in Nepal, near Mt. Everest. Evenings and weekends were spent in the company of friends or leading local and national paranormal investigations that he organized for Tampa Ghost Watchers. Sharpe also worked as a stockbroker and a real estate agent in St. Petersburg. He briefly lived in Key West. He is survived by his mother, Mary Duncan; sister, Barbara Gardner; nieces, Katie and Jill; beloved cat, Charlie; and a world full of friends. Services will be held 5 - 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, at Hyde Park United Methodist Church, 500 West Platt St., Tampa, officiated by Rev. Vicki Walker. A "Celebrate Bill" event will be held following the service at MacDinton's Irish Pub and Restaurant at 405 South Howard Ave., beginning at 6 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bill Sharpe Memorial Trust at the "Celebrate Bill" event at MacDinton's Tuesday night or any Bank of Tampa ranch. Please sign the online guestbook at www. BlountCurryMacDill.com