James Sharp

Jim died peacefully at his home in Durango on the evening of December 2nd, 2014, held in love by his wife, daughter and son-in-law. In his last days, several friends made the long trek to be with him and share love and stories. He was finally able to rest after a long bout with severe depression, in part due to a series of physical ailments that aggravated and destabilized his underlying bipolar disorder. Jim was 69 years old. Jim Sharp was born in Brownsville, Texas on February 22nd, 1945. He was a twin to Joe Sharp, Jr, welcomed by his parents Joe and Elinore Sharp and older sister, Cata. Husband, father, friend. Pilot, climber, cyclist, photographer, investor and rebel mountain-man. Jim was all of these and more. He was a caring father, happy just to hear the sound of his daughter’s voices on the telephone, always ready to say “I'm so proud of you.” He was a loving husband, grasping his wife Charlotte’s hand in bed in the middle of a stormy night, saying “I love you.” Jim spent his young childhood in Coyoacan, Mexico City, where his father moved his family to grow a successful business. Jim never forgot his first language, Spanish, and a piece of his heart will always remain in Mexico. An adventurer since he was a young boy, he spent his days on his bicycle in Coyoacan where he took his brother to explore “all the nooks and crannies of the neighborhood” (even though he wasn’t supposed to go past their block!) Though he and his twin brother spent many years apart in boarding schools, they always maintained a close connection and went on many mountain adventures together. Jim attended CU Boulder, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in English in 1967 while also getting his pilot’s license. Soon after, he sprang for Alaska to become a bush pilot. He flew numerous hunters, climbers, and renowned guides into the Alaskan wilderness in and around Denali Park. He eventually bought and ran the Talkeetna Air Taxi Service. One of many heroic flights made during his tenure: a record breaking landing at 14,200 feet in his Cessna 185 to rescue an injured climber. He piloted a later aviation adventure from the US throughout South America to Tierra del Fuego in his beloved Cessna. His Co-Pilot was his first wife Christie Northrop, one of the navigators that accompanied him through his life, and with whom he had two daughters, Lake and Brett. Not long after, Jim and Christie took their baby daughters on a two year long boating adventure on the green-sailed Evenstar. In 1981 he returned to Boulder, Colorado, seeing his daughters through school and cultivating an active outdoor and social life. The smell of coffee and the opening music of Morning Edition evoke memories of his home on Walnut Street, from where trips to the Pearl Street Mall, a friends’ home on Mapleton Hill, the James Tavern, and basketball or frisbee in the park began. An avid skier, hiker, cyclist and outdoorsman, his love of nature and solitude took him to Durango, Colorado, “Boulder’s getting too crowded!” in 2001. He soon met his second wife Charlotte Deters and her family: her son, Lael, and her boisterous clan of grandchildren, Jonah, Riley, Bella and Anthony, and their mother Lara. Jim was known as “Grandpa Jim” and boy did he love those kids. Lael and his girlfriend Heather were a great comfort to him during his stays at hospitals in Denver, they were ever attentive and caring. He was an independent man, but as life became harder to navigate, he came to need more help to go in the right direction. It was a difficult transition, but one he made with relative grace, always a kind, gentle soul. His wife Charlotte was there, steady, ready to help him find his way.

He led a full life, enough for more than one lifetime, and though that doesn’t dampen the pain of losing him, it gives comfort. So few have an opportunity to do so much. Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Elinore Sharp, and his sister Catherine “Cata.” He is survived by his wife Charlotte, daughters Brett and Lake, sons-in-law, Andres and Alex, stepson Lael, grandchildren Eleonor, Jonah, Riley, Bella, Anthony, and Lake’s soon-to-be-born baby, twin brother Joe, sister-in-law Rose Mary, nieces Hasana, Abigail, Michele, Kirsten, nephew Eric and grandnephew Pahache.
Memorial services will be held summer of 2015 in Boulder, Colorado, with a cremains interment in the Sharp family plot in Brownsville, Texas. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and/or Hospice of Mercy Durango. A special thank you to Hospice nurse, Sean, who provided loving care and support to Jim and his family. Condolences can be sent on hoodmortuary.com.