Ron Sharp was born to John and Pearl Sharp on April 13, 1949 and grew up in Newport Beach, California. He dabbled in different sports and activities, but found passion in surfing and riding motorcycles.

After high school, Ron enrolled in Chapman College and took to the seas with World Campus Afloat in 1968. He was expected to attend classes when the ship docked, but never one to miss out on a new experience, Ron skipped his classes and took to exploring destinations from South America to Europe to North Africa. When he returned home, he decided he preferred the classroom of the world to academic halls and left college to return to Europe.

After riding his bike across the Pyrenees (including through an unexpected snow storm), Ron landed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1969. It didn’t take long for him to meet and fall in love with Lona, who was working in Garmisch as a professional figure skater.

After returning home to Southern California, Ron was missing the mountains of Europe so he took off on his motorcycle to explore the mountain towns of the west. When Ron landed in Sun Valley, he didn’t expect to stay for the next 30-plus years, but that’s what he did.

In 1971, Ron’s number came up and he was drafted into the Vietnam War. He worked his way up through the ranks and served as a US Army Green Beret. While he was in training, he married Lona in 1972. When Ron was deployed to Thailand, it didn’t take long for Lona to follow, spending their newlywed years in a hostile fire zone.

After Ron completed his service, he returned to Sun Valley and launched his entrepreneurial career. It started with Trail Creek Co. Realtors where Ron focused on residential real estate. Then, he opened Ronald J. Sharp and Associates where he focused on commercial real estate development and property management. With his valued partners, Ron developed commercial real estate projects in Ketchum and Bellevue, Idaho, Washington state, and Park City, Price, and St. George, Utah.

In 2001, Ron and Lona permanently relocated to Utah. When he wasn’t working, Ron was riding motorcycles, skiing, riding bicycles, and sharing his passion for adventure with his family. He also remained passionate about surfing and was a founding member of the Surfing Heritage Foundation. He maintained a personal passion for real estate and was constantly moving or dreaming up a new floor plan. Despite his professional success, Ron’s most cherished role was that of loving husband, father, and grandpa.

Ron lived life to its fullest and his common refrain when reflecting on his life was “I’ve had a blast, I wish I could do it all over again”. Ron is survived by his loving wife Lona, his eldest daughter Kahrin and her husband Robert and their children Colin (15), Lyla (13), and Conner (13), his youngest daughter Katrin and her husband Ed and their daughter Anika (1), and his sister Lynda, and brother Dan.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life at Stein Eriksen Lodge in Deer Valley, Utah on Sunday, August 23rd at 4:30pm.