Mary Katherine (Kennedy) Sharpe

Mary Katherine (Kennedy) Sharpe, 78, of Houston, Texas, passed away Friday, April 21, 2023, in Houston, Texas. She was born on October 20, 1944, to the late William and Mary (Holman) Kennedy. A mass of Christian burial will be held at 10:00 am on Friday, April 28, 2023, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Interment will follow at Moral Cemetery. A visitation will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at Laird Funeral Home, with a Rosary service at 7:00 pm.

Mary Katherine Sharpe grew up an army brat in a typical army family, moving constantly.  She attended Kubasaki High School in Okinawa, Japan and later earned a degree from The University of Maryland satellite campus in Stuttgart, West Germany in 1989.  She achieved a brown belt in judo and tested for her brown belt at the Kodokan in Okinawa.  She met her husband at Fort Still Oklahoma and was married in El Paso on April 3, 1965; she was an army wife of 30 years.  Mary enjoyed painting, genealogy, crossword and logic puzzles.  She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  She retired after 20+ years of being a first-grade school teacher in El Paso, Texas.  She was a devoted member of the Roman Catholic Church her whole life wherever she lived.  She was also a member of the choir. 

Mary is survived by daughters, Barbara “Shelley” Vonderharr & husband Pete; sons, Sean, Sharpe and wife Andrea, Terry Sharpe and wife Dawn; sister, Elizabeth Smith, and husband, Stacy; 12 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. 

She is preceded in death by her parents, William & Mary Kennedy; brothers, William Kennedy Jr, and Michael Kennedy; sister, Anne Kennedy Rackman and her daughter, Sherrin Patterson. 

Serving as pallbearers are: Terry Sharpe, Sean Sharpe, Pete Vonderharr, Brian Sharpe.

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