Isobel Ella Sharpe

Isobel Ella Sharpe, age 102, passed away on Saturday October 12th, 2024 at Harvest Home Assisted Living in Howards Grove with her family by her side. Isobel was born on December 29th, 1921 in the Town of Greenbush, a daughter of the late Edmund and Ella (Schuricht) Raeder. She grew up enjoying the beauty of the family farm overlooking the Sheboygan Marsh. 

Isobel attended Hulls Crossing grade school and graduated from Plymouth High School with the class of 1939. At age nineteen she left home to attend Vocational School in Sheboygan to study office and secretary classes. After graduation she worked in the office at the H.C. Prange Company. 

In 1941, she met Joseph Sharpe of Manistee, Michigan at the Prange lunch counter. He was a cook on a Great Lakes freighter and had come downtown while his ship was being unloaded at the Reiss Coal dock. They became friends and remained in contact by mail. They would see each other whenever Joe returned to Sheboygan. 

The couple was married on January 10, 1944 at the First Methodist Church in Sheboygan. In Spring the newlywed couple began sailing together on the Lakes, he as Chief Steward and she as Second Cook. He would do the cooking and she would do the baking. Every year the ship captains would negotiate to have them on their boat because of the wonderful meals they prepared for the crews. 

In 1950 they retired from the Lakes and settled in Sheboygan to raise their family. They built a new home on Henry Street where they enjoyed preparing wonderful meals for their family and friends from the recipes they had perfected together. The family looked forward to their annual trip to the cabin at Bear Lake Michigan and their visits with their many Michigan relatives. As the children grew older Isobel began working in the purchasing department at St. Nicholas Hospital. She later became an assistant purchasing agent at Vinyl Plastics from where she retired in 1984. In retirement the couple enjoyed traveling, bowling in the senior league at Maple Lanes and an occasional casino trip. 

Isobel is survived by her children, Stephen (Lora), Michael (Lisa), William, Joseph (Rhonda), Mary (Mark) Lohse and Dorothy (the late Bernard) Burley. She is also survived by ten grandchildren, fourteen greatgrandchildren, one great-great grandson and also many nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband and parents she was preceded in death by four brothers Melvin (Bernice), David (Jeanette), Allen (Janet) and Ronald (Janet) Raeder and three sisters, June (Elroy) Guenther, Jeanette (Wilbur) Bohnhoff and Alice Raeder. 

A time of visitation for immediate family will be held at the Wenig Funeral Home in Sheboygan Falls on Wednesday October 16th. Isobel will be laid to rest next to her husband Joseph in the Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery. 

The family wishes to thank the staff and residents at Lakehouse Sheboygan, and Harvest Home in Howards Grove for the love they have shown and care they have given our mother over the years.