Sharon Lee Robinson Morris died at the age of 82 on February 7, 2024, surrounded by her loving family after a two-year battle with cancer. Sharon had lived on Vashon for nearly 40 years. Growing up in Tacoma, she was an avid reader and began to write at an early age, winning an essay contest that took her to Washington D.C. where she met Eleanor Roosevelt. Then, in high school, she was an exchange student with the American Friends Service Committee, spending a year in Berlin, Germany, where she formed friendships that lasted a lifetime. Sharon attended Portland’s Reed College, where she met and married Steve Morris. She gave birth to their first child during the summer between their sophomore and junior years. Undaunted, Sharon graduated on time with a degree in Political Science.
Sharon went on to have twins before entering the work world. She became a passionate leader in the field of Occupational Safety and Health. She worked for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in administration and then, as a Legislative Advisor on Capitol Hill. She was a key advisor to nearly every NIOSH director from the creation of the agency until she retired. Sharon left policy and moved into education, where she became Associate Chair in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. She was largely responsible for the department’s continuing education activities for decades.
Over the years, Sharon returned many times to the Alaskan Arctic, her favorite destination, exploring the wilderness with her dearest friends and her granddaughters. She cherished her experiences with astonishing wildlife, blogging at http://sharemore1.wordpress.com so that we could go along for the ride. None of the obstacles of living in the wild dissuaded her: mosquitoes, unpredictable weather, turbulent tides, sea stacks and curious bears were just the price of being in the peace and natural beauty that she craved.
Sharon and her second husband, Moshe Rosenfeld, also shared a passion for more traditional travel, They lived in Hanoi for months at a time, where she learned to cook Vietnamese food from Moshe’s graduate students in their tiny apartment. They traveled the world during their twenty-two years together, visiting all seven continents, most recently, Antarctica.
Sharon also spearheaded a female writers’ group after retirement, meeting weekly, contributing to and producing numerous published articles and finally, completing her opus, a book about her grandparents’ complicated relationship spanning two centuries the week she died. It was her hope that “The Meaning of Wife” would serve to enlighten people about the struggles of average women in the early 20th century.
Sharon’s positive, outgoing personality meant that she was always socializing, particularly if it involved locally grown food, Palouse wine, chocolate and a game or two. She held epic Halloween parties, decorating with abandon. Some of Sharon’s cheeky political costumes will live in infamy. Halloween will never be the same without her. Sharon’s white elephant gift exchange at Christmas was a holiday highlight for friends and family. She spent the year looking for the perfect white elephant gift at Granny’s.
Sharon is survived by her husband, Moshe Rosenfeld; her siblings: Elizabeth, Jo (Rick) Frances (Gregory) and James (Linda) Robinson; her children: Rebecca Morris-Chatta (Gurkamal), Daniel (Maya Skolnik), and Jennifer Morris; her step daughters: Rafeket Houchbaum (Amir) and Sigal Kirsch; her grandchildren: Kieran Dieter (Christine), Jaspreet and Sarah Chatta, Samantha Morris-Beber, and Lillian Morris; six step-grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life Will be held at the Vashon Center for the Arts March 3 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.
