Sharon Burgess Paxton:
CLASS OF 1961
Dupont High SchoolClass of 1961
Belle, WV
Marshall UniversityClass of 9999
Huntington, WV
West Virginia UniversityClass of 9999
Morgantown, WV
Institute, WV
Glenville State CollegeClass of 1990
Glenville, WV
Sharon's Story
Life
I consider my life very exciting because I look forward to and enjoy each day to the fullest! Following are a few of the highlights about the life Tom and I have shared.
In April 1961 of our senior year, the High School Choir had a concert and a dance afterwards. I invited Tom Paxton to join me and we have been together since. We celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary in November 2002. We raised 3 sons who are now 31, 32, and 37.
We consider ourselves fortunate to have raised our children in Ripley in Jackson County, a small, rural community where most people knew each other, raised our children together, went to church together, and worked together in civic groups and jobs. We were active in the community; I was
President of the Junior Woman's Club and the local Garden Club and Tom was Vice President of the Rotary Club. We kept quite busy with community activities including little league ball, wrestling (from pee-wee to high school and college intramurals), local drama group and church activities. I played the piano and organ at several different churches, including lots of weddings. I also played for variety shows and other activities as needed.
Eight years ago we decided to move to Cross Lanes in Kanawha County. After being a stay-at-home mom for several years, I had driven for the greater part of 20 years from Ripley to Charleston to work. This move provided us an opportunity to get closer to the city amenities for retirement. Ironically, moving closer to the city gave us a larger, more secluded space to live.
I now serve as organist at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Nitro where both Tom and I are members. Our oldest son lives in Jackson County where he grew up. Our youngest lives in Cross Lanes and one lives in Huntington, so our family is no more than one hour away. Forty one years later, Tom is still w...Expand for more
orking at the same location. The company has changed hands three times; they just quietly move around Tom and keep him managing his same award-winning, record setting department. I completed my college degree in 1990 and have used my skills and education in the Economic Development Division of the West Virginia Development Office for the past 16+ years. I work in the 'think tank' and IT areas of the office so am forced to keep up with technology so the 'young uns' don't leave me in the dust! In less than one year I will be able to 'hit the bricks', this time for retirement. I really look forward to the opportunity for freedom of scheduling and the time to expand my newly created business providing economic/demographic studies, market analysis, surveys, benchmarking and other boring stuff.
In our spare time, Tom and I enjoy traveling. I have visited several countries in Europe and Tom heads for places where big game hunting happens. He has gone to the Arctic Tundra, Wyoming, Colorado and the King Ranch in Texas, and next year is headed to Newfoundland, among other locations. We have also had the opportunity to do some traveling with our jobs. We like vacationing together as well. We especially enjoyed Mexico and Alaska and have spent many vacations at the beaches along the east coast as well as various other places such as museums and historical venues. Tom is also very involved in archery tournaments. He is pretty well known for his expertise in reloading and arrow construction. At one time, he had his own gun shop in Jackson County where he readily dispensed his talents and knowledge (I think there's another word for this)! We spend our quiet time at home reading, doing landscape gardening and enjoying each other's company.
It is with the love of our God, our family and our close friends that we enjoy...La dolce vita!!!!!!!!!
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