Sharon Harkey Fry was born Laura Sharon Harkey on April 27, 1931 in Silver City, New Mexico to Laura Belle Harkey and Clyde Carl Harkey. She was called Sharon because there were several other Lauras in the family at the time. Sharon married Philip R. Fry in Scottsdale Desember 28, 1960. Her son, Craig, was born Septembr 13. 1962 and her daughte, Laura was born June 22, 1966. She passed away in Phoenix January 5 after a lengthy hospitalizatton. She was as much the product of the world in which she grew to maturity as any child of the 30's, 40's and 50's, 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 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 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 with her mother for lessons. She joined the El Paso Symphony Orchestra at that time. Sharon moved East to Pennsylvania with her sisters family when she was 17 to study In Philadephia, living in Allentown where her brother-in-law was coronet solist with the renowned Allentown Band. After graduating from Allentown Lehigh High School, where she became one of the select high school musicians in the area, she spent the next year in private study and practice. After a year at Cedarcrest College she transferred to the Cleveland institute of Music, now part of Case Western Reserve University, where she distinguished herself as a promising young violinist, 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 ASU, then ASC, in Tempe. There she was a Teaching Assistant, Concertmaster of the orchestra and performed as a soloist. In 1956 she 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 she was known to generations of Phoenix concertgoers as "the beautiful blonde in the front row." Disabling arthritis ended her performing career in 1994, but not before she was awarded Musician of the Year honors. Sharon joined her parents and other family members on a two month combined European tour and Safari in East Africa. She practiced at least two hours a day while on Safari and enjoyed playing folk dances for Egyptian belly dancers and desert dwellers while parents danced in the sand near Giza. Chamber music was another well loved calling, and Sharon performed over the years in duos. trios, string quartets and other small ensembles all over the Valley, 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. They must have made it available to PBS because, to her delight, she began hearing about it not only from local viewers but from friends in other parts of the world as well. She had always taught private students, and she continued that teaching until 2005 when a variety of physical afflictions forced her to the sidelines. During her career Sharon taught music in Phoenix and Mesa Public schools, Mesa Community College and violin at ASU. Her private students, however were her greatest joy in teaching. Sharon is survived by her beloved children, Craig of San Francisco. CA, and Laura Poore of Fountain Hills, AZ, her husband of 45 years, Phil Fry of Prescott, her niece, who grew up as if a younger sister, Clydene Dechert of Prescott, her adored granddaughter, Jessamyn Fry of San Francisico and cousins in California, Kansas, Texas and Georgia. Her loss will be deeply and enduringly felt by them, their families, and by friends in every corner of the nation.