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CORNELIA SHARPTON OBITUARY
Cornelia (Connie) Jean (nee Clulow)
Sharpton, 82, passed peacefully in her sleep on July 5, 2022. Born
in Washington, D.C. on March 18, 1940, Connie was the oldest of
two children born to Ernest Clulow, Jr. and Mary (Wilkinson)
Clulow-Stallings. Connie loved to share stories about her younger
years as her family moved from D.C. to Florida to Little Rock,
Arkansas while her father completed his Naval service during World
War II. She reminisced about beach adventures and playing baseball
with her brother, George, and the neighborhood boys. Connie fondly
retold how her father invented toys for them to try and brought
home wild animals for them to discover. As her father needed care
that necessitated him living away from home, much of Connie's
youth was marked by her bond with and admiration for her devoted,
hard-working single mother. Her mother's giftedness at nurturing
Connie and her brother while modeling the will and sacrifice
required to be a strong, educated, independent career woman paved
the way for Connie's future.
Connie graduated from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas
in 1958 during a pivotal era in the civil rights movement. She was
inspired by the resolve she witnessed by her classmates of color
who were integrating into her school for the first time. She noted
the actions of supportive educators and followed their lead. As a
devoted student, she devoured literature and studied language and
the arts in order to secure a scholarship that would send her to
the University of Arkansas. She excelled as a learner and
completed her A.B. degree in English while working several jobs,
fully engaging in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and serving as
an officer for Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Lambda Delta. During this
time, she also embarked on a summer's long journey across Europe,
an adventure that she talked about until her final days as she
remembered the ship's Atlantic crossing, hitchhiking, attending
performances of all kinds, exploring history, dancing, dating,
creating friendships, and awakening to the beauty of the world.
This sparked her love for travel and adventure. Connie continued
with graduate studies and served as a graduate assistant at both
the University of Arkansas and Auburn University.
During 1964's summer semester at University of Arkansas, she met
Wendell Sharpton in the cafeteria. Their love developed through
deep conversations about life, literature, and learning. Wendell
sang songs, quoted poetry and wrote long letters as he romanced
Connie, something he would do for the remainder of their lives
together. After summer, Connie moved to Emporia, Kansas to begin
her teaching career at The Teachers College in what is now Emporia
State University. By the end of December, she and Wendell wed even
as they continued their long-distance romance for the rest of the
school year. In Summer 1965, she moved from Emporia to Sand
Springs, Oklahoma where her husband was already established in his
career as an educator. This became the home base for them to raise
their two daughters, Leslie and Stacey. Connie endowed her love of
adventure, art, music, film, literature, history and travel to
her children. Days were spent listening to classical records she'd
collected as she explained the meanings of music. Countless books
and poems were shared as the symbolism that poured from the pages
was brought to life. No matter the sacrifice, every summer was not
complete until the family piled in the car and headed to a new
destination full of surprise and wonder.
Although Connie served as a full-time parent during part of her
children's early years, she turned her attention back to balancing
career and family as soon as possible. Her greatest love was that
of being a teacher. She spent 24 years in education, primarily as
an English teacher at Charles Page High School in Sand Springs.
Mrs. Sharpton was known for her love of short stories, symbolism
in literature and film, Shakespeare, grammatical perfection and
creative writing. Her intensity as a teacher pushed her students
to excel, to never expect less of themselves than their best. She
believed in the abilities of all students and rejoiced in moments
when they would understand a concept, accomplish something, or
value themselves as learners for the first time. While her classes
were filled with high expectations and heavy work requirements,
they were also filled with laughter and creativity. On Sundays,
she could often be found teaching some more, this time with
younger students in Sunday school or children's church at the Sand
Springs Church of God. She completed her career in Sand Springs as
director of the alternative learning program where she assisted
students needing support outside of the traditional classroom.
Upon retirement, she and Wendell moved to Hot Springs Village,
Arkansas, where they enjoyed lakeside living, boating, mission
work through Village Bible Church, reading, playing games, working
puzzles and traveling all over the world with friends and family.
In 2018, a health crisis required her to leave the solitude of her
Lake Balboa home and move to the St. Louis, Missouri area to be
near her daughter Leslie. The next four and half years were marked
by both the cognitive and physical challenges associated with
Alzheimer's Disease. At the same time, these years provided a
unique space for creating new memories and strengthening bonds
with her children and grandchildren as they cared for her. She
passed knowing that she was well-loved by her family and her
caregivers at Family Partners Home - Manchester. Even though their
care needs required them to live separately in their later years,
Connie and Wendell celebrated 57 years of marriage until his
passing just twenty-three days before hers.
In her high school classes, Mrs. Sharpton relished the opportunity
to teach from Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach as she
made Jonathan fly off the pages of the short novel and illuminate
her students' minds. In the last couple of months of her life, her
daughter read this book to her. Alzheimer's had made parts of the
story foggy for her; but she completed the phrase, "The gull
sees farthest who flies highest" when she heard it. She then
connected to the deeper meaning of the book, talking about truly
living, being joyful in our experiences, chasing perfection, and
finally facing death and Heaven. The "teacher" remained
to the very end, sometimes hidden behind the struggle, but always
seeking the symbolism revealed in each moment. Connie has now
joined the Great Teacher in her Heavenly home. She can now see
further and fly higher than we can imagine.
Connie was predeceased by her husband, her parents and her
brother, George Clulow. She is survived by her two children:
Stacey (Dan) Loop of Austin, Texas, and Leslie (Eric) Johnson of
St. Louis, Missouri; as well as five grandchildren - Sam, Spencer,
Mason, Iris and Alexandra. She is also survived by her
sister-in-law, Suzanne Clulow and her nephew and two nieces.
A shared graveside memorial service will be held for both Mrs.
Sharpton and her recently deceased husband, Dr. Wendell Sharpton
on August 13, 11:00 AM at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, 1200 N.
Cleveland, Sand Springs, Oklahoma. This will be followed by a 2:00
- 4:00 PM celebration of life reception at the Dr. Wendell
Sharpton Library at Clyde Boyd Middle School, 305 W. 35th Street
in Sand Springs. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations
in memory of Connie to one of her favorite organizations: Children
Evangelism Fellowship, Inc. ( cefonline.com),
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (https://www.fca.org/donate),
and Sand Springs Education Foundation (sandspringseducationfoundation.com).
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