Born on a dairy farm in Fairmount, North Dakota, Sharon Meyer decided at a young age that milking cows was for the birds.
She preferred staying in the farm house where she learned to cook, bake, sew and fix all sorts of things. Sharon brought those skills and many more when she came to work at Sun Health more than 18 years ago.
“There is nothing she couldn’t fix,” said financial analyst Suzie Wilson who worked with Sharon for almost 15 years. “Copy machine, fax machine, chairs: she fixed all of them. And there was nothing she couldn’t find. She remembers everything.”
Sharon started as a housekeeper at Boswell, and later became the department’s receptionist before transferring to a secretary position within Sun Health Foundation (SHF) where she quickly won over donors and co-workers with her friendly and helpful attitude. Her duties included answering phones, managing inventory, filing and writing thank-you notes to donors, a skill she turned into an art form with cut roses and beautiful, handwritten notes.
“I loved getting the chance to meet our donors and to be the one to acknowledge their gifts,” Sharon said.
“She is the most pleasant, caring person to work with,” Bonnie Olsen, a development director for SHF, said of Sharon. “We used to call her ‘mother’ because she watched over all of us like a mom…she did so much to make our jobs smoother.”
Sharon and her husband Allan (also retired) have been married for 53 years and they have five grown children, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. Now that she’s called it a career, Sharon plans to spend more time with Allan, other family and friends and to crochet, knit, bake, swim, learn more about computers and occasionally visit the casino.
She also plans to keep “watching over” Sun Health. Once a mom, always a mom.
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Sharon is famous for homespun humor and wisdom, which mostly come out as clever phrases her friends call “Sharonisms.” Here’s a small sample:
- “I may be on a diet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look at the menu.” (On admiring handsome men)
- “There’s one nice thing about going the extra mile; there’s not much traffic.”
- “I’ve lost the fluffy fat, now I’m working on the hard lard.” (On dieting)
- “Beauty is but skin deep. Homely goes clear to the bone.”
- “If you want to see the dead come to life, stop by the time clock at 5 p.m. on Friday evening.”
- “Well, you know if it’s got testosterone or tires, it’ll give you trouble.”
