Sharon Carr Hewitt passed away in a suburb of Phoenix, Ariz., on Jan. 27, 2025. She was born in Medford, Ore., on Feb. 16, 1953 to George and Sherrod Carr. After graduating from Medford High School in 1971 Sharon moved to Portland to pursue paralegal studies at Portland Community College becoming the first certified paralegal in Oregon. While in Portland she became acquainted with Henry Hewitt, then a young attorney. Upon completing her studies at PCC, Sharon returned to Medford to work as a paralegal for Otto Frohnmayer. That move began a long-distance courtship with Henry, leading to their marriage in Portland on May 12, 1979. Sharon worked as a paralegal at two different law firms before she and Henry welcomed their son Adam Kyle Hewitt on July 16, 1982, followed by the birth of their daughter Laura Elizabeth Hewitt on October 16, 1986. Two great events in her life. After a few years as a full-time mother, Sharon returned to college at Linfield University in Portland, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2001. Sharon was an active volunteer and community member while her children attended Oregon Episcopal School, helping to organize and lead an annual book swap and becoming a founding member of a book group that she regularly met with until the time of her death. Sharon became an active member of the Marquam Hill Committee, an organization supporting Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU). Sharon, together with a small group of women, founded the Oregon chapter of ARCS Foundation, a women’s organization to provide scholarship funding to graduate students in science and technology fields, first at OHSU and later at other universities in Oregon. Sharon became the first President of ARCS Oregon and served as a board member for many years. After Henry’s retirement in 2013, Sharon and Henry moved to Bend, Oregon where Sharon became a member of the Board of Directors of the High Desert Museum and organized the Friends of North Rim to support the community in which they lived. Throughout their marriage Sharon and Henry travelled extensively, visiting six continents several times. They only missed Antarctica due to Sharon’s aversion to open ocean travel. Some of her favorite destinations were Africa, Switzerland and India. Sharon enjoyed reading, needlepoint, embroidery, walking and chatting with her friends and baking Christmas cookies for family, friends and neighbors. She built connections between people making all feel welcome and included wherever she was. Wherever Sharon went, she made acquaintances who became friends for life. Sharon will be missed by her family and her friends.
Sharon is survived by Henry, her husband for over 45 years; her brother, Richard Carr and his wife Jeanne; and their children, Joi Pinckney and Denis Carr; her sister-in-law, Barbara Copley and her partner Doug DeGues; her son, Adam Hewitt and his partner Krystina Cruikshank; her daughter, Laura Sparks and her husband Andrew Sparks; and her three grandsons, Jackson, Connor and Tucker Sparks who shared a special relationship with their Nana.
Donations in Sharon’s behalf should be made to the ARCS Foundation Oregon, The High Desert Museum or to the charity of your choice.
Published by The Oregonian from Jan. 31 to Feb. 9, 2025.
[Henry Hewitt is a Jasper Hewitt descendent.]
