Sharen G. (Anderson) Young

Sharen G. Young (née Anderson), of Fish Creek, Wisconsin, died at home, surrounded by family, in the early morning hours of July 1, 2025. She was 82.

Born on February 14, 1943, in Door County, Wisconsin, Sharen spent the first few years of her life with her mother, Gladys Anderson, and her maternal grandparents in Fish Creek, while her father, Floyd Anderson, was serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. She didn't meet her father until he returned from the war when she was 3 years old.

The young, reunited family settled initially in Chicago, where Floyd and Gladys had married and lived for a short time before Floyd entered military service. After a couple of years, they returned to Door County, residing in the family homestead on Juddville Road, and Floyd took a job at Peninsula State Park.

Sharen attended school at the one-room schoolhouse in Juddville until she started high school at Gibraltar. Along the way, her younger siblings arrived: brother, Ken, and sister, Carol.

Sharen's father was a state park manager for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which meant the family moved around the state regularly, and Sharen transferred to the high school in Mellen for the last two years of her secondary education when her father became manager of Copper Falls State Park, though she spent summers working in Door County and staying with her grandparents.

After graduating high school in 1960, Sharen attended Wisconsin State College-Superior (now the University of Wisconsin-Superior) but withdrew after a few terms due to the cost. Ready for a change in climate, and using local Fish Creek connections, she was able to secure a job at a Thorp-family-owned motel in St. Petersburg, Florida, and she headed south.

In early 1963, she fell into a whirlwind courtship with her soon-to-be husband, John Young, and was married within a month of their meeting. The couple quickly became a small family with the birth of their son, John Jr., in 1964.

Six years later, the family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, the headquarters of General Electric, for whom John Sr. worked in sales. Daughter Jocelyn was born there in 1971. The family moved to the Cleveland, Ohio, area due to a job transfer the following year.

Sharen had been a homemaker until about the time her daughter started school, then she entered a nursing program at nearby Lorain County Community College. Upon graduating, she took a full-time job at Lutheran Medical Center (now part of the Cleveland Clinic) in downtown Cleveland, first working on the medical-surgical floors and soon moving to a position in the cardiac intensive care unit, where she eventually became a shift supervisor.

After nearly 20 years living in the far western suburbs of Cleveland, Sharen and John saw an opportunity to relocate to Door County, where they had retained close ties and Sharen's parents were living in retirement, and where they had always intended to retire themselves. They built a home on Juddville Road next to the family homestead in 1991, and Sharen took a job leading the cardiac rehab department at the hospital in Sturgeon Bay. She worked for about two decades leading a small team running cardiac stress tests and other diagnostics, and fully developing the hospital's "Hearty Conditioning" program - the highlight of her nursing career - for patients recovering from heart attacks or cardiac surgery.

Sharen was always a woman of deep faith, becoming especially involved in church activities after moving to the Cleveland area, and she devoted much more of her time to church initiatives in Door County in her retirement. A member of Community Church of Fish Creek since 1991, over the years she was engaged with various women's ministries, assisted the church treasurer with accounting for weekly offerings and annual giving statements, and eventually led the very active Missions Committee. She also represented the church for several years in the local Bridges ministry to foreign students working in Door County for the summer.

In her retirement, Sharen also set aside considerable time for various Bible studies, in particular the international Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) program. For several years, she led BSF groups for women in Sturgeon Bay before stepping back to be a regular class member again. Years of study with her BSF classmates led to several long-lasting and cherished friendships.

Sharen was a dedicated volunteer outside of church as well, often in the long-term care unit at Scandia Village in Sister Bay. Most recently, she also volunteered faithfully at Bargains Unlimited resale shop, doing intake work year-round, until she became ill and could no longer commit to a regular schedule or perform the physically demanding work.

Sharen's spirits were buoyed immeasurably by the faithful support of the many friends who visited, called, texted, and sent cards while she was under hospice care at home and as her physical strength waned during the last months of her life.

Sharen was preceded in death by her husband of 59 ½ years, John W. Young Sr.; her parents, Floyd and Gladys (née Fairchild) Anderson; and a grandson, Beren Mattingly. She is survived by her son, John Young Jr., of Fish Creek, WI; her daughter, Jocelyn (Jacob) Stanton, of West Des Moines, IA; her grandson, August MacFarland, of Salida, CO; her granddaughter, Anya Young, of Johnston, IA; her brother, Kenneth (Mary) Anderson, of East Troy, WI; and her sister, Carol Anderson, of Baraboo, WI.

A memorial service and celebration of life will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at Community Church of Fish Creek, 9420 Cottage Row, Fish Creek, WI 54212. Officiant: Pastor Daniel Bowman. Visitation will be held at the church prior to the service, from noon to 1:30 p.m. A private interment will be held at Blossomberg Cemetery inside Peninsula State Park at a future time.

In lieu of flowers, any donations in Sharen's name may be directed to the Missions Fund at Community Church of Fish Creek, PO Box 70, Fish Creek, WI 54212 (online giving at www.ccfishcreek.org), the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation (cholangiocarcinoma.org/donate), Bible Study Fellowship (bsfinternational.org/support), or to another charity of the donor's choice.

Sharen's family thanks the attentive staff of Unity Hospice for their supportive care, practical advice, and welcome guidance over the last few months.

Casperson Funeral Home is assisting the Young family. Expressions of sympathy, memories, and photos of Sharen may be shared with her family through her tribute page at www.CaspersonFuneralHome.com.

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