Luella May Sharpe

Luella May “Lu” Sharpe, age 95- Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, went home to our Lord on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

Lu was born on June 3, 1927, in Minneapolis, MN, the third of twelve children, to John (Johannes) and Anna Delia (Hasse) Jensen. The family lived on several farms in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis while Lu was growing up and, after leaving school, she worked as a nanny for a family in Minneapolis and, later, as a waitress at PAGE Café. While living in Minneapolis she met her husband, Bob.

She married Robert Francis Sharpe on September 24, 1949, in Robbinsdale, MN, and spent their lives making a home for themselves and their family until Bob’s passing in 2007. They lived in Minneapolis when they were first married but moved to California in late 1950 with their baby son Bobby, and while there they increased their family with the birth of daughter Linda. In October 1954, they moved back to Minnesota and settled in Eden Prairie where the welcomed daughter Lisa in the mid-1960’s, and the family was complete – until children-in law, grandchildren and great grandchildren came into the picture.

Lu worked at many companies over the years, but truly enjoyed her in-home daycare (which was more like a preschool) and later, Eden Prairie Schools. She gave up her daycare just before she took her “trip of a lifetime” to Denmark (her father’s country of Birth) along with her sister Mary, where they spent three weeks getting to know many family members. She treasured the memory of that trip and loved sharing those memories, and pictures, with anyone who was interested. One of her great passions was cooking and feeding people. Lu also enjoyed her volunteer work with Loaves and Fishes and at P.R.O.P., in Eden Prairie, and after she and Bob moved to Albert Lea (because her neighborhood made room for Hwy 212) she found plenty of volunteer opportunities with her church, as well as St. John’s Lutheran Home and Good Samaritan Home in Albert Lea, receiving the Senior Volunteer of the Year – 1998, for her many hours spent at St. John’s.

Lu is survived by her daughters, Linda (Roger) Boeckman, and Lisa (Sharpe) Ward; daughter-in-law Mary (Mahady) Sharpe; grandchildren, Melanie (Boeckman) and Gatlin Essary, Leah (Sharpe) and Bob Meisch, Jason (Amanda) Sharpe, Jeremy (Kara) Sharpe, Justin (Rikka) Sharpe, Brady (Alyssa) Shaffer, Michael (Jackie Liebl) Shaffer, Hannah Ward and Brian Ward; great grandchildren, Carrie and Laura Essary, Wyatt and Nicholas Meisch, Ruby, Bobby and Henry Sharpe, Max and Jack Sharpe, Hady and Mira Sharpe, Abraham and Isaiah Shaffer, Blair and Teddy Shaffer; brothers Robert C. Jensen and Richard D. Jensen; sisters, Nancy M. (Jensen) Houg, and Shirley A. (Jensen) Houg; sister-in law, Carol Jensen; god children Connie Houg, Debbie (Houg) Holmen and Johnny Houg, as well as many other relatives and friends.

Lu is preceded in death by her parents, John and Anna Jensen; husband, Robert F. Sharpe; son, Robert R. Sharpe; son-in-law, Loren P. Ward; brothers, John Frederick “Fred” Jensen, Alfred Donald “Don” Jensen, Eugene “Gene” Jensen, and Frank L. Jensen; sisters, Betty Anna Jensen, Lila June Jensen, and Mary Ellen (Jensen) Larson; brothers-in-law, Myron L. Houg, Harold H. Houg, Milton J. Larson, Mervin T. “Smokey” Moats, and Clifford Rice; sisters-in law, Alice (Milstein) Jensen, Cheryl (Severtson) Jensen, Shirley “Pete” (Peterson) Jensen, Beverly (Sund) Jensen, Margaret Jane (Sharpe) Moats, and Joan (Blum) Rice.

A memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 11:30 AM at First Lutheran Church in Glenville, MN with visitation one hour prior to service at the church. Burial will be at First Lutheran Cemetery with luncheon to follow at the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.

The service will be live-streamed from the Bayview/Freeborn Facebook page at the following link:   https://fb.me/e/1a6e0xSsa