Peter Sharp

30 Jul 1947 - 4 Jul 2011

Peter (Pete) Sharp was born 30 July 1947 in Ulm, Germany, to Turner Sharp and Marga (Niess) Sharp. Pete passed away on Monday, 04 July 2011, in Norman, Oklahoma, after a brief illness. He was 63 years old.

Pete was a resident of Little Axe (Norman), Oklahoma, resident and a Team Leader for the Oklahoma City Veterans Center. He is a graduate of Eisenhower High School (1966) in Lawton, Oklahoma. Pete excelled in academics and sports. He earned his Bachelors' Degree in Psychology from Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Oklahoma) in 1970. Upon graduation and completion of Reserve Officers Training Corps at OSU, Pete was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. He completed his officer basic course at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and completed his military service at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

At the conclusion of his military career, Pete remained in Oklahoma and assisted with establishing the first drug and alcohol program for Vietnam era military at the Fort Sill Hospital. He took on the open road in his VW Van touring the United States. He later enrolled in the University of Oklahoma where he received a Masters' Degree in Counseling in 1973 and a Masters' Degree in Social Work in 1975. Pete worked at the Taliaferro Mental Health Center in Lawton, Oklahoma, and for the Oklahoma State Department of Mental Health as a program development specialist. Pete was hired by the Oklahoma City Veterans Administration in 1979 as the Team Leader for the Oklahoma City Vet Center. The Oklahoma City Vet Center was recognized nationally for the retention of original staff members in 1988 while under Pete's leadership. Pete citied the diversity and multicultural backgrounds of the team and the united commitment of each team member to the veterans they served.

Pete played a critical role in two disasters that impacted the State of Oklahoma. He was a member of a group of professional counselors that provided debriefing and psychological support to the many men and women who assisted with the search and rescue efforts that followed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing on April 19, 1995. His coordination of mental health services was again called upon by the Red Cross after the May 3, 1999, tornadoes. Pete served as the coordinator of three teams of counselors deployed through the Readjustment Counseling Service, Vet Center Management arm within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to assist victims in affected areas. Pete served on the statewide effort to require licensing and the development of credentials for social workers in the State of Oklahoma and was instrumental in the creation of the Oklahoma State Veterans Memorial.

He is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the National American Legion and the Little Axe American Legion. Pete's professionalism, dedication and commitment to the clients he has served as a counselor in his career is recognized and honored by those people who he helped and by the mental health community and will be deeply missed. Pete enjoyed Little League coaching, gardening, and fishing. He was a devoted OU fan while always supportive of OSU, keeping up through his favorite radio station WWLS, the Sports Animal.

Pete's family was the love and soul of his life. He married Pamela Greb on September 1, 1978, and they had two children, who all survive him. He was preceded in death by his father, Turner C. Sharp. Services will be Friday, July 8, at 11:00 am, at Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1400 NE 13th Street, OKC, OK, with the Reverend Harvey G. Potts officiating. Graveside services will be at 2:00 p.m. at the Ft. Sill National Cemetery in Elgin, Oklahoma, with military honors. Services are under the direction of Corbett Funeral Home, Oklahoma City.