Sharlene Kay Mitchell was born November 25, 1946, one of four children born to Dr. Kenneth Peter and Marjorie Marie Burger Mitchell in Pawnee City, Nebraska. The family resided in Summerfield, Kansas. She started elementary school in Summerfield and in 1957 the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. She graduated from the 8th grade at Holy Name Catholic School and started high school at Mercy High. The family moved to Chicago where she graduated from Mercy High in 1964. At that time the family moved to Dubuque, Iowa and Sharlene moved to Kansas State University. That first semester she became very homesick and the doctor at student health wanted her to go home for a visit. Dad fearing that she would not go back said no. The following weekend we all loaded into the car and went to K State to visit her. All went well and when she came home at Thanksgiving, she returned to K State to school. She graduated in 1968 with a BS in Secondary Education in Physical Science. She did her student teaching in chemistry and physics. Sharlene was employed at Kansas State working in the housing department from 1965 to 1981. She started as Resident Assistant and then became a Residence Hall Director, Complex Coordinator, and finally the Associate Director of Housing.

Sharlene earned a Masters Degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1971. Deciding social work was not for her, she continued classes and in 1981, received a Masters Degree in Computer Science. In 1981, she left Kansas State and went to work for the Department of Defense at Fort Leavenworth. In 1985, her work took her to Ford Aerospace that ultimately became Loral Command and Control Systems and then Lockheed Martin. She continued her work for the Department of Defense. She transferred to Colorado Springs in 1992 and then to Omaha in 1999.

She retired from Lockheed Martin in 2013. She prepared to move to Holton, Kansas hoping to continue her quilting and crafting and be more centrally located to all of her family. You should have been there to see the boxes of projects and items she had saved for future projects. We helped her move at least 3 cattle trailers full and then 2 Men and a Truck moved a full load.

Due to health issues, it was a disappointing retirement. Early last Friday morning, May 27, 2016, Sharlene died at the Hiawatha Hospital after taking a bad fall on the prior Tuesday evening.

Sharlene was preceded in death by her parents.

Sharlene is survived by her siblings: Kenneth Bryan (Jean) Mitchell, Lynnette (Kirby) Dierking, and Bruce (Eulala) Mitchell. She has 12 nieces and nephews: Michelle, Kyle, Cameron, Monica, Colleen, Kristin, Karmen, Heather, Kenneth, Kole, Hillary, and Hannah. She also has 13 great-nieces and nephews: Jacob, Samantha, Josie, Moira, Jack, Erin, Ella, Alex, Ryan, Carlie, Cael, Kaleb, and Kali. Sharlene never married or had any children of her own, but claimed all her nieces and nephews as her children.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Family Catholic Church at Summerfield, at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 2, with Father Dan Gardner as celebrant. Interment will follow at Holy Family Cemetery, nearby. Friends may call at Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Hiawatha after 10 a.m. Wednesday, where a parish rosary will be recited at 6 p.m., followed by the family visiting with friends until 8.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Holy Family Cemetery which may be sent in care of the funeral home, 124 S 7th St., Hiawatha 66434. A special message may be sent to the family at www.chapeloaksfuneralhome.com