Sharon Ward

Funeral services for Sharon Ward, 82, of Ewing, will be Friday, March 25, 2022 at 10:30 a.m., at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Ewing, with Father James Kramper officiating. Visitation will be Thursday, March 24, from 5 to 7 p.m., at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Ewing, with a 7 p.m. wake service. Burial will be in St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery.

Sharon died March 17, 2022, at Heritage of Bel Air in Norfolk.

Snider Memorial Funeral Home, in Clearwater, is handling the arrangements. Condolences may be directed to her family at http://www.snidermemorialfh.com.

~~~

Sharon was born in Ewing on June 25, 1939, the 10th of 11 children, to Roy and Ann (Bauer) Rotherham. Starting at a young age, Sharon, along with her siblings, worked at the Green Lantern Café in Ewing, which was owned by her family. Sharon attended Ewing Public School, graduating in 1957.

Following graduation, Sharon moved to California where she worked for a gas company and where she met Gary Ward, whom she married in 1959; they had seven children together: Vicki, Shelly, Debbie, Wendy, Terri, Jim and Mary. The family lived in Kansas and Nebraska before moving to Simi Valley, California, in 1976, where she was employed as a manager at McDonalds for 20 years.

In 1998, Sharon and her husband retired and moved to Ewing, where she was active with the St. Peter's Christian Mothers, American Legion Auxiliary and taught CCD to elementary students. In 2000, Sharon and her husband purchased the Two Rivers Motel in Ewing, which she operated until she officially retired in 2015.

Sharon loved spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She enjoyed playing board games and cards but her favorite "pastime" was going to The Hill to play the slot machines.

She is survived by her brother, Butch (Carol) Rotherham of Ewing; brother-in-law, Leo O'Malley of North Platte; sisters-in-law, Marge Rotherham of Crawford and Karen Rotherham of Ewing; children, Vicki (Craig) Bollwitt of Ewing, Shelly Gillespie of Ewing, Debbie (Allan) Bentley of Neligh, Wendy Moscrop (Jon Foster) of LaQuinta, California, Terri Ward of Yukon, Oklahoma, Jim (Darleen) Ward of Simi Valley, California, and Mary Reilly of Denver, Colorado, in addition to several grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Sharon was preceded in death by her husband, Gary; her parents, nine siblings, Pat, Michael, Jim, Betty, Donna, Vince, Jerry, Bernadine and Geraldine; her granddaughter Amanda Gillespie and great-grandson Gary Ward, Jr.