Sharon Petty, an employee in the Boyd Dining Center, recently passed away on Nov. 15. Sharon was a member of our family as a campus, especially to those of us who had the pleasure of working with her. She always had funny remarks to brighten up the end of a long shift behind the line. One joke my coworkers and I have reflected on is that before the end of the Friday lunch shift, she always said, “I’m going to clock out right at 1:57,” because she was always so excited to be going home for the weekend. Matthew Smith, a manager for Sodexo on campus, had a special relationship with her.
“I have personally worked with Sharon before coming to Virginia Wesleyan over 7 years ago,” Smith said in an email to employees about her passing. “We go back like easy chairs being that we worked together for the better part of 8 years. Love you and miss you dearly Sharon! I’m glad that I got the chance to visit her in the hospital before her passing and I was able to tell her that in person one last time.” Her presence on this campus is one of the few that has touched virtually every person here, and she will be missed more than she can know. Please keep her family, her friends and her grandson, Jakaire, in your hearts.
By Aiden Croghan
accroghan@vwu.edu