Sharon “Wickie” Y. Stapleton

Growing up as a child and teenager she spent her summers in the rural central Pennsylvania hills at her grandparents homes. She learned from them the values of family, providing and caring for her loved ones, and being a part of a large extended family. Her grandmother taught her the love of gardening and her grandfather imparted the importance of education and teaching others.

A 1970 graduate of Jamestown High School, having spent many hours participating in both the concert and marching bands. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Art Education from Edinboro University and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from SUNY Fredonia.

Wickie was a lifelong teacher for over 37 years starting her career teaching preschool for Head Start in Chautauqua County, and then at Hurlbut Memorial Church at Chautauqua Institution for several years. She then went on to spend 25 years at Chautauqua Lake Elementary School teaching Kindergarten and later 3rd Grade. Upon her retirement in 2015 she received the “Eugenia Durk Hannum Award” for demonstration of excellence in teaching from the Chautauqua Lake School District.

Wickie was a lifelong gardener and earned the designation of Master Gardener in 2016 from Cornell Cooperative Extension. She passed on her passion for gardening through her work at the Community Garden at Jamestown Community College where she served as Committee Chairperson. In addition, she was an avid reader and a member of the Chautauqua book club who also donated her time by volunteering at the Ashville Library. Wickie was a lover of nature and spent many hours a week walking through Long Point State Park, enjoying downhill skiing at Holiday Valley, and boating on Chautauqua Lake. She was passionate about art and spent most of her life painting, drawing, and creating unique ceramic pieces to showcase her creative talents.

Her life was devoted to her family. She was a loving wife to her husband David Stapleton celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary in June 2023 with all of their family in attendance. She was an amazing mother to her three children: Jennifer Stapleton (Dr. Juan Calle) of Cleveland, OH, Dr. Amanda Stapleton (Dr. Eric Helm) of Pittsburgh, PA and Tyler Stapleton (Jacquelyn Monaghan Stapleton) of La Plata, MD. She truly thrived in the role of grandmother and her 4 grandchildren: Lucas, Natalie, and Adrienne Helm and Ethan Calle have been the recipients of her nonstop love and affection and her passion for learning, art, and nature.

She is survived by her brother Michael Vogle (Julie Vogle) of Jamestown and her sister Susan Humphreys of Jamestown.

She was preceded in death by her sister Alta Vogle.

The funeral will be held at 11 am Saturday in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Burial will be in Lake View Cemetery following the funeral service.

Friends will be received from 4-7 pm Friday in the Lind Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to St. Susan’s Center Soup Kitchen: https://stsusancenter.org or Master Gardeners Association: https://chautauqua. cce. cornell.edu/donate

You may leave words of condolence at www.lind funeralhome.com.