Sharon Ann Bach Blackshire
Sharon Ann Bach Blackshire, 72, died of Parkinson’s disease on August 15, 2026, at the Clarkston, Michigan, home of her daughter, Abbie, after several days of hospice care. Born September 23, 1953, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sharon lived a life marked by family, faith, education, service, travel, and an abiding curiosity about the world. She is survived by her three children, Abigail Leigh Salo Blackshire, John Cecil Blackshire III, and Myra Kaye Fountain; four grandchildren, Gideon Blackshire, Roman Blackshire, Noah Fountain, and Ellie Fountain; and her brothers, Greg Bach of Woodstock, Georgia, and Steve Bach of Orange, California.
Sharon was born to Wilbert E. Bach Jr. and Joan Patricia Kennedy Bach. Her father’s career with Alcoa took the family around the world, including to Melbourne, Australia, where Sharon spent all four years of high school and graduated from Presbyterian Ladies College. Those early experiences helped foster a lifelong love of travel and an interest in the people and places beyond wherever she happened to call home.
After returning to the United States, Sharon attended Vanderbilt University, graduating in 1975. She began her career in sales with Clorox in Greenville, South Carolina. It was there, at the pool of their apartment complex, that she met John Blackshire Jr. They married on March 20, 1976 and moved to Atlanta before eventually settling with their family in Naperville, Illinois, in 1980. They divorced in 1993.
During her years in Naperville, Sharon worked in sales for Procter & Gamble and Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals. She later made a significant change in direction, returning to school to pursue work centered on helping others. In 1994, she earned a master’s degree in school social work from Aurora University. Her professional life thereafter reflected two areas about which she cared deeply: children and the treatment of addiction.
In August 1995, Sharon left Illinois for West Palm Beach, Florida. The move suited her particularly well because Sharon loved the beach. Florida would remain her home for nearly 27 years, until April 2022. During approximately the first decade of her time there, she worked as a school teacher in the Jupiter schools. She later founded her own business, Life Matters Incorporated, through which she provided mental health therapy and addiction treatment, and she also worked with a number of community-based mental health providers during the 2010s.
Sharon’s work and sense of adventure took her abroad again when she spent a year living in Germany, renting out her Florida home while she worked in social services serving the U.S. military community there.
Travel was one of the great pleasures of Sharon’s life. She took pride in having visited 34 countries and six continents. On one of her final international trips, she added Africa to the continents she had visited, leaving only Antarctica unchecked. For Sharon, seeing the world was not merely something she talked about doing; she made plans and went.
That determination reflected one of the lessons Sharon carried throughout her life from her father, Bill: “Plan your work and work your plan.” It was a philosophy well suited to her. Sharon liked things thought through, planned, and done with intention—whether the subject was education, travel, a garden, a home, or a dinner party.
She brought that same sense of intention to the spaces she created. Sharon loved gardening and landscaping and devoted many hours to the gardens at both her Saybrook home in Naperville and her Florida home, where she particularly enjoyed incorporating native plants. Inside, she decorated her homes and apartments thoughtfully and deliberately.
Sharon also loved to entertain. During her Saybrook years, she hosted dinner parties, played tennis, attended bridge nights, and participated in neighborhood progressive dinners. She loved to cook and took pleasure in planning meals with multiple courses. A gathering at Sharon’s house could mean a huge spread of food, plenty of decorations, and a great deal of preparation. For years, she was known in the neighborhood for the party she hosted following Beebe Elementary’s annual Pumpkin Day festival.
Sharon brought that same attention to her own appearance. She liked to be put together, often in carefully coordinated outfits, and those who knew her will remember her signature red lipstick and red nail polish.
Faith was also a constant throughout Sharon’s adult life. During her years in Naperville, she volunteered extensively at Naperville Congregational Church, including in children’s programming, and participated in Bible Study Fellowship. In Florida, she became an active participant at Christ Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach. Even after illness brought her to Michigan, she continued joining Christ Fellowship remotely for Sunday services and small-group Bible studies.
The beach remained one of Sharon’s favorite places throughout her life. Even as her health became more challenging, she made getting to the beach a priority whenever she could. Some of those visits became especially meaningful because she was able to share a place she loved with her grandchildren.
In April 2022, as Parkinson’s increasingly affected her health, Sharon left Florida and moved to Monark Grove Senior Living in Clarkston, Michigan, to be near her daughter Abbie and her family. Those final four years gave her the opportunity to be part of the everyday lives of her grandsons Roman and Gideon, attending their school events and sports and spending time with them as they grew. Abbie’s husband, Jim Salo, was also a tremendous source of support to Sharon throughout these years as her health needs increased.
Sharon was preceded in death by her parents, Wilbert E. Bach Jr. and Joan Patricia Kennedy Bach.
She is survived by her children, Abigail Leigh Salo Blackshire and her husband, Jim Salo; John Cecil Blackshire III; and Myra Kaye Fountain and her husband, Jeremiah Fountain; her grandchildren, Gideon Blackshire, Roman Blackshire, Noah Fountain, and Ellie Fountain; and her brothers, Greg Bach and his wife, Marta Bach, of Woodstock, Georgia, and Steve Bach and his wife, Blythe Bach, of Orange, California.
Sharon’s cremated remains will be interred at Memorial Mountain View Cemetery in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, on October 16, 2026. A small family gathering at the cemetery will be followed by a family lunch.
Those wishing to honor Sharon’s memory are invited to make a donation to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, supporting efforts to advance treatments and ultimately find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Family and friends may also share memories and messages through Sharon’s memorialized Facebook profile. Correspondence to the family may be sent to 5541 Warbler Drive, Clarkston, Michigan 48346.
Share
Let the family know you care by sharing this tribute.
I was a member of the Zoom Bible study that Sharon attended at Christ Fellowship. Sharon loved participating and we loved hearing what she was doing each week. We will miss her, but we know she is with Jesus and is out of pain!!! We send our love and condolences to the family🙏🏼❤️
I enjoyed knowing Sharon through a Bible study group. She was such a trooper as she struggled with Parkinson’s disease. What strength! 🙏🏼
Sharon was a very dear school friend at Presbyterian Ladies College in Melbourne, Australia, and we never lost touch. In later years we visited each other, wrote letters then graduated to email, Facebook Messenger and the occasional video chat. She always had enormous drive, organisational skills and extraordinary resilience. Rest in peace dear friend, you have fought the good fight.
My condolences to the family. We met Sharon through her practice at Life Matters. Forever grateful for all she did for our family. A true blessing. God Bless and hold Sharon in his loving arms.🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏
Sharon was a faithful member of my online Sisterhood Bible Study group at Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for many years. She also held a special place in the history of our church as one of its founding members when Christ Fellowship began as a small Bible study in the living room of Dr. Tom and Donna Mullins. What began in that living room has since grown into one of the largest churches in America.
Over the years, Sharon often spoke with great love and affection for her children, her grandchildren, and the beach—things that brought her so much joy. But above all, Sharon loved Jesus. She knew Him, trusted Him, and faithfully sought Him through His Word.
Because of her faith, I grieve Sharon’s passing with hope and confidence. On August 15, Sharon’s faith became sight. Her battle with Parkinson’s is over — she is whole, restored, and now in the presence of Jesus, the Savior she loved.
To Sharon’s family, please know how deeply sorry I am for your loss. Sharon was loved, and her presence among us will be greatly missed. I pray that in the days ahead, the Lord will surround each of you with His comfort and peace, and that the memories you hold so dearly will remind you of the beautiful life and faith she shared with you. Because of Jesus and His promise of eternal life, we know this goodbye is not forever. 💖
I am saddened to learn of Sharon’s passing.
I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to know and work with Sharon through our online community group with Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Although much of our connection was online, I was especially glad to visit with her earlier this year when I was in Michigan for a conference. That visit made our connection even more meaningful to me.
Sharon’s determination in the midst of Parkinson’s disease was remarkable. Her drive to keep moving forward remained consistent and confident, and her Christian faith was always evident. She was willing to openly share her values, her struggles, and the insights she had gained along the way. In doing so, she taught me much about perseverance, compassion, and loving others even when life is difficult.
Our online group cherished Sharon’s participation and the effort she put into being involved. We welcomed her enthusiasm, her persistence, and even the occasional disruption that came with her determination to contribute. Those qualities were part of who Sharon was, and they made her presence felt.
Life is broken in so many ways—through illness, loss, family struggles, and the passing of friends. Sharon’s life was far too short, but she showed love and kindness to others. I feel privileged that our paths crossed and that I was able to know her.
My thoughts and prayers are with Sharon’s family, friends, and all those who were blessed to know her. May they find comfort in their memories of Sharon, in the love she shared with others, and in the hope and faith she carried throughout her life.
Sorry to hear of Sharon’s passing. My deepest condolences and prayers are with you all at this difficult time.
Sharon was an active member in our Christ Fellowship online groups. As our oldest member she shared a lot about her life, Christian faith and family successes and struggles.
She was an inspiration to all of us
and will be greatly missed.
May Sharon rest in peace.
Praying for comfort and deepest sympathy for her family.
Love your friend,
Deborah
My wonderful client and friend Sharon, been caring for her for three years. Sharon taught me organization and discipline. I’ll forever miss helping and working with Sharon. The busiest person at her age, and one of my best friends every day hurts without her. You will be missed.
I met Sharon when she began working at JFK North Hospital’s Pavilion psychiatric unit as the chemical dependency counselor for the IOP program. She was brilliant, sweet, and kind, and we became friends. My daughter and I were invited to her lovely home where she prepared a delicious meal for us. We noticed all her beautiful decorations and momentos. Sharon was an open book and shared all about her life’s travels and encounters which were extremely fascinating. She’d been to many places and done many things. But she never boasted about anything. Instead, what stands out to me the most is what a kind and empathic person she was. I will miss her always and I regret not spending more time with her, but she will forever be in my heart.
I am grateful that Sharon selflessly launched my recovery. Peace to her, and her family. Will meet again.
Sharon will be missed by all at the Monday night support group. Rest in peace.
I met Sharon when we worked together at Carp. Since I lived in Broward County the daily long travel to Carp was my reason for looking for a job closer to home, and I went to work at the women’s prison in Broward County, where several of my patients from Carp who could not cure their addictions were sentenced to the prison where I worked. When I bought my house 21 years ago, I had a Thanksgiving dinner, and Sharon helped me so much. She slept over at my house so she did not have to travel that far late in the evening. Sharon was one of the smartest people in my social circle, and even after she moved to Michigan, we would have long phone conversations, since we both enjoyed the discussing intellectual matters. Sharon was so bright and well educated, she was always an interesting person.
Dear Abbie, Myra and JC
I’m so sorry to hear about the death of your mom. We all had such great memories from Naperville!!! Your mom taught me how to play bridge and now I’m working on my life master in bridge.
Hugs to you all and your families.
Debbie Greenslade (my husband John died 4 1/2 years ago – we think from affects of 9/11.
John hadn’t married. Rita is married to Walker Stabile and have given us two wonderful grandchildren.