Sharon Margaret Delaney O'Connell

Sharon Margaret Delaney O’Connell, of Apex, N.C., 76, died February 17 at the William Dunlap Center for Caring. She was born April 11, 1936 in Lincoln, Neb. to T. Ronald Delaney and Julia Coye.  She grew up in Polson and moved to Tokyo, Japan in 1946 where she graduated from Yokohama American High School 1954. She obtained a BS degree in nursing from Mercy College of Detroit 1958. She married John Robert O’Connell in 1958. John and Sharon lived in Muskego, Wis. where they raised their four children. Sharon loved working as head nurse of the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee. She was offered many promotions, but refused them all in order to maintain a position with direct patient care.  Later, upon moving to Slidell, La., she worked for Humana Women’s Hospital. She retired to Atlanta, Ga. and later to Apex, N.C.   She was a kind, loving, and generous mother and grandmother who loved to sew and knit for her grandchildren. She is survived by her loving husband of 54 years, John R. O’Connell, two brothers, Jerald (Dion) Delaney, New Mexico, and Michael (Charlotte) Delaney, New York, & Big Fork, her sister Susan Delaney Cline of Arizona; her 4 children: John R. O’Connell Jr. of Santa Rosa, Calif., Kelly (Mark) O’Connell Pearsall of Madison, Ala., Erin (Tim) O’Connell Morris of Mobile, Ala., and Brian (Nancy) O’Connell of Apex; nine grandchildren, Cherie (Matthew) Pearsall Zorn, Susan Pearsall, Julia Morris, Kevin O’Connell, Tara O’Connell, Timothy Morris, Connor Morris, Patrick O’Connell, and Rachel Pearsall;  great grandchild: Victoria Lynn Zorn.