Dr. Sharon M. King

Sharon Lorraine McRae King, devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, returned to our Heavenly Father on January 19, 2009 at the age of 62 due to liver failure. She is now united with her parents, grandparents, and her lively and beloved daughter Jody Ann who preceded her in death.
Born in American Fork Utah on July 9, 1946 to Joseph Pratt and Norma Durrant McRae, Sharon married George Gull King in the Salt Lake Temple on August 30, 1968.
Sharon attained Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate Degrees in Clinical Psychology from Brigham Young University. A dedicated and respected professional, she spent more than three decades working closely with various Utah county and state facilities to assure effective and judicious care, training, and treatment for the mentally handicapped.
Sharon is a gracious and charming lady and a loving mother with a generous heart and a sly sense of humor. She enjoyed life to the fullest and shared her deep appreciation of the beauty of the outdoors. She loved horse riding, camping, and fishing and spent many joyous hours fly-fishing on local streams. Later in life she enjoyed trolling on local reservoirs in her son's boat.
Sharon gave compassionate service to friends, family, children, and grandchildren, and countless others, especially those with special needs. She also left a legacy of service to her church and her community. An active and devoted member of the LDS Church, she served in many callings including both Primary and Relief Society President.
Sharon loves life, pets of various kinds such as frogs, horses, cats, dogs, fishes, birds, and squirrels. She also loves music, piano playing, yard sales, travel, meeting new people, and sharing her joy in the hope of the gospel.
Sharon's life proves that it isn't only sunshine that brings happiness. As she faced various adversities, she brought stability and common sense to her husband, and taught her children how to study, work, travel, fish, and, above all, how to dance in the rain.
We would like to thank our many true friends at the LDS Hospital and the Intermountain Medical Center for their exceptional care of our beloved wife and mother.
We also extend our deepest thanks and heartfelt love to Debbie McKowen, who, upon learning that Sharon risked tedious and painful death due to prolonged liver failure, bravely gave more than 60 percent of her own liver to Sharon. This most generous and exemplary act extended Sharon's happiness and her life.
Sharon has been the first and prime candidate for any available liver transplant in the intermountain west since the week before Christmas, 2008. She endured incredible pain waiting for a donor and relying on this hope. She died waiting. There are currently other wonderful people waiting in our local hospitals for liver, kidney, heart and lung transplants. Her family would like to encourage everyone in our community to become donors so that other families can avoid this loss and immense pain.
Sharon is survived by her devoted husband of more than forty years, George Gull King, four excellent and loving children and their spouses, Corrie Jo (Brian) Hoffmeier, Lorrie Michelle (Michael) Belnap, Jamie G. (Holly) King, and Cindy (Reed) Merryweather; and 11 lively and wonderful grandchildren. Her children and their spouses follow her example in their love for sharing the gospel and in the careful care of her beloved grandkids.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. this Saturday, January 24, 2009 at the LDS Orem Canyon View Second Ward chapel, 1090 North 400 East, Orem, UT 84097. Friends may call in the Ward Relief Society Room from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Friday evening, and also from 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on Saturday prior to the services.