Laura Sharon (Harkey) Fry |
| Posted 2008-11-07 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Friday, January 27, 2007 Sharon Harkey Fry was born Laura Sharon Harkey on April 27, 1931, in Silver City, New Mexico, to Laura Belle and Clyde Carl Harkey. She became Sharon because there were other Lauras in the family at the time. Sharon passed away in Phoenix, Jan. 5, after a lengthy hospitalization. She was as much the product of the world in which she grew to maturity as any child of the '30s and '40s, with an extraordinary feeling for family, past and present. Her sparkling blue eyes and brilliant, welcoming smile won friends easily. Her warmth and loyalty held them for life. All the women in Sharon's immediate family were musical. She sang, played piano, and began what became a life-long devotion to the violin at age 7. She attended St. Mary's Academy in Silver City for her elementary education so she could study violin. By age 12 she was featured on a weekly local radio program, and later joined her sister and a talented singer her age on another program every Saturday. When she was 13, Sharon switched her violin studies to El Paso, Texas, making the weekly round trip from Silver City to El Paso by car. Sharon married Philip R. Fry December 1960. Son Craig was born in September 1962 and daughter Laura was born in June 1966. All three events were carefully planned around the orchestra schedule. Disabling arthritis ended her performing career in 1994, but not before she was awarded Orchestra Musician of the Year honors in 1993. Sharon and Phil had shared a desire to live in Prescott for many years, and bought property here in the early '80s. When the time arrived they found country north of town that reminded them of her family's New Mexico ranch and moved here in 1999. Chamber music was another well-loved calling, and Sharon performed over the years in duos, trios, string quartets and other small ensembles throughout the Phoenix area, including several iterations of the Phoenix Symphony String Quartet and Phoenix String Quartet. She subbed once for an absent member of the New Art String Quartet at ASU for a video recording session to be used on Channel 8. The video must have been syndicated, because to her surprise, she began hearing about it not only from local viewers but from friends in other parts of the nation as well. She had always taught private students and she gave her mother lessons. She joined the El Paso Symphony Orchestra at that time. Sharon moved to Pennsylvania with her sister's family when she was 17 to study in Philadephia, living in Allentown where her brother-in-law was cornet soloist with the renowned Allentown Band. She graduated from Allentown Lehigh High School as one of the select high school musicians in the area, then spent the next year in private study and practice She obtained her bachelor's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, now part of Case Western Reserve University, where she distinguished herself as a promising young iolinist, performing in area orchestras and as a soloist. A year of teaching at the Settlement House in Cleveland and performing in the region preceded Sharon's migration back to the Southwest to obtain her Master of Music Education degree at ASC, now ASU, in Tempe. There she was a Teaching Assistant, Concertmaster of the orchestra and performed as a soloist. In 1956 Sharon joined the First Violin section of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Soon thereafter she took over as Principal of the Second Violin section, where for the next 33 years. During her career Sharon taught music in Phoenix and Mesa Public schools, Mesa Community College and as a sabbatical replacement, violin at ASU. Her private students, however, were always her greatest joy in teaching. In 1959, Sharon had joined her parents and other family members on a two-month European tour and East African safari, one of the most memorable experiences of her life. She practiced at least two hours a day while in Africa, and enjoyed playing American folk dances for Egyptian belly dancers and desert dwellers while her parents danced in the sand near Giza. Sharon is survived by her beloved children, Craig Fry of San Francisco, Calif., and Laura Poore of Fountain Hills, Ariz.; her husband of 45 years, Phil Fry of Prescott; her niece Clydene Dechertof Prescott, who grew up as if a younger sister; her adored granddaughter, Jessamyn Fry of San Francisco; and cousins in California, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and Georgia. Her loss will be deeply and enduringly felt by them, their families, and by friends in every corner of the USA. Interment was Monday Jan. 9 at East Resthaven Cemetery in Phoenix, Ariz., following a memorable service at the Messinger Mortuary Chapel in Scottsdale. A memorial Service for Sharon is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. at the Prescott United Methodist Church, 500 W. Gurley St. A youth violin scholarship has been established in Sharon's name at the Prescott Fine Arts Association, 208 N. Marina St., Prescott, 86301. Contributions to PFAA should be noted Sharon Harkey Fry Violin Scholarship. Information provided by survivors. |
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