Sharon Young, 71

In the early hours of Wednesday, June 12, Sharon Young passed away at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease and complications from COVID-19. She was surrounded by family in her final hours and will be greatly missed by many.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 22, at Garden City Funeral Home in Missoula, with a reception to follow. Online condolences may be left at gardencityfh.com. The Young family asks that any donations should be made in her name to the Michael J. Fox Foundation (michaeljfox.org).

Sharon Lee (Meek) Young, daughter of George and Margaret (Henson) Meek, was born Aug. 4, 1952 in Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Oak Park High School in 1970 and earned a Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Music Conservatory in 1975.

She married the love of her life, Harold Young, on May 1, 1976, and they went on to spend 48 wonderful years together, having five children along the way.

Sharon was a loving mother, patient music teacher, and bank branch manager. Her passions included singing, painting, exploring art, public speaking as a member of the local ToastMasters club, and volunteering for La Leche League International for close to 40 years, where she filled many roles, including editor of the U.S. edition of their newsletter.

Sharon loved to share her beautiful singing voice with others, blessing church services, weddings, funerals, and the occasional locally produced musical with her incredible voice. In recent years, Sharon enjoyed tending her flowers, working puzzles, making art of all sorts, and interacting with family and friends.

She was dedicated to her family and loved nothing more than to visit with her children and grandchildren. Throughout her life, she was devoted to her creator and savior and her faith was an example to all.

Sharon was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) early in 2015, and over the years of battling the disease, she took pride in doing everything she could to ease the way of others faced with the same diagnosis, working tirelessly to do her part to end PD. From July of 2018 until her death Sharon participated in a clinical trial of a new way of administering PD medication that has paved the way for the medication to be approved by the FDA and go to market in the U.S. in the coming months.

She was extremely proud to have contributed to something that will change the lives of so many for the better.  She would also be the first to tell us that we cannot rest there, and that we must all still work toward a true cure.

Sharon was kind and loving to all, and fiercely protective of those she held dear, or anyone who she saw needing a helping hand. She was also the first to find laughter in things, offering up what came to be known as “Sharon jokes” as often as she could work them in.

She often said she inherited her sense of humor from her mother, and she was sharing her humor right up until the end, always finding ways to make family, doctors and hospital staff crack a smile, in even the darkest moments.  Sharon was a light in this world and will be deeply missed by all those she has left behind.

Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Harold Young; children Alex (Sarah) Young, Art (Jen) Young, Emma (Lucas) Young, Dorothy Young and Thea Young; five grandchildren, George Young, Andrew Young, Violet Young, Rae Young and Finnegan Harris; sister Jean Evans; and nieces, nephews, extended family and many friends.

Sharon was preceded in death by her parents, George and Margaret Meek, brother George Meek III, and niece Angel Butler.