Harry Allen "Bud" Sharp

Harry Allen Sharp, known to all as Bud, passed away May 27th, 2023. He was 89 years old.

He was an extraordinary storyteller, a joke lover, a man that loved to laugh and to share with others the what he saw as the best things in life. He looked after and worried about his family, both immediate and extended, something that he started at age 15 when his father passed. He quit school and went to work to support the family. He never quit working for the family, even in his later years, and was the guy you counted on to fix things around your place.

Like most of the Sharp boys of his generation he liked to read western paperbacks. He was an avid deer hunter and a fine man with a rifle, even as he got older. For many years he loved to spear in the winter in his spear house, and he taught several of the later generation how to do that. He had a route that he would sometimes drive, stopping by friends and relatives to visit and to see how things were going. If you needed something fixed, he was more often than not the guy who knew how to fix it. He was a master with Duct Tape!

He worked many jobs over a long and busy life. The two that he mentioned most often was that of a cat skinner for Blattner Construction, and as an operator of the coating machine at the Potlatch Papermill in Brainerd.

Bud was born to William and Doris (Siers) Sharp on April 10th, 1934, near Cedar Lake in Aitkin County, MN. He married Jean Lavonne Moon in June of 1955, after having met her when she was tossed into the silo he was working in during silo filling time. They would remain together as husband and wife for nearly 68 years. His brother Jim would marry the sister of Jean, Jane Yvonne Moon, two years later, and the two families would remain close as cousins and in laws all their lives. Bud became and remained a second father figure to his nephews Gordon, Dan, Joe, and his niece Laurie Sharp to the present day. In addition, his niece Lynn (Kehl) Justesen would make her home with the Bud Sharp family.

Bud is survived by his son Allen (Kathi) Sharp of Deerwood and his daughter Shari (Kurt) Oravetz of Monticello.  He is also survived by his grandson Jacob (Ashley) Oravetz of Maple Lake, granddaughters Anna (Jake) Oravetz of Duluth, Kara (Ryan) Stechnij of Brainerd, Nicolle (Brandon) Hines of Becker, and Monica (Jeremy) Schommer of Sartell. 

Four siblings also survive Bud. They are Wayne (Carol) Sharp, Stan (Helen) Sharp, Chas Sharp, and his sister Donna Cooper. He is also remembered fondly by his brother-in-law Harold (DeDe) Moon.

He is survived by nine great grandchildren; Jimmy, Miley, Maggie, Kayden, Logan, London, Laken, Reid, and Colter

Bud is preceded in death by his parents, William and Doris (Siers) Sharp Hoyhtya, his brothers Bill, Jim, Mike and his sisters Ruth (Hansen) Sharp and Louise (Jarvela) Sharp.  His youngest son Kevin preceded him, as well as two great granddaughters, Maria Oravetz and Mia Schommer.

As a mentor, friend, uncle, father, helper, provider for and patriarch of a large family he was without equal. We’ll not see his like again, and feel his loss deeply already.

A celebration of life with be held at a later date.