Mary Sharp

Mary Anne Sharp, 94, of Decatur, Georgia passed away peacefully on October 2, 2025.

Ms. Sharp was born on May 12, 1931 outside Knoxville, Tennessee to Mary Lee and Lester Sharp. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, she attended Clairemont Elementary School and graduated from Decatur Girl's High School in 1948. She attended Georgia State University (1948-51), received her B.A. from Oglethorpe University (1958), then earned her Masters Degree in Education from Emory University in 1971.

Ms. Sharp had a distinguished career as an educator for 33 years in Atlanta, at Spring Street School and Morningside Elementary School, where she wrote and directed three original musicals: U.S. AM's School of the Air, Charlotte's Web and Georgia: The Musical! She was named the City of Atlanta Teacher of the Year on three separate occasions.

As much as she loved teaching, Ms. Sharp was passionate in her work as Director (and later as Director Emeritus) of the Decatur Civic Chorus (DCC), which she actively conducted for 57 years, from 1964 to 2015. Prior Director and Founder Mary Clark established the DCC in 1949 to provide free, public performances of choral music for Decatur and the surrounding area. Under Ms. Sharp's direction, (and alongside her mother, Mary Lee Sharp who served as accompanist), the DCC grew to become nationally recognized, even performing for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Some of their regional concerts included the Governor's Mansion, Spivey Hall, Fox Theatre, Emory Schwartz Center, Atlanta Symphony Hall, and the Piedmont Arts Festival, in addition to providing benefit concerts for the American Cancer Society, the Red Cross, the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital, and more. Throughout the United States, The DCC performed at the Stone Mountain Dedication (1970), Disney World, the World's Fair in Knoxville (1982), New Orleans (1984), Carnegie Hall (2006), The Kennedy Center for the Arts (2008), the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, S.C., and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Internationally, Sharp and her Decatur Civic Chorus singers performed in Wales, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Mexico (Mexico National Symphony), among other countries.

In addition to hosting two, free concerts for the public each year (at the First Baptist Church of Decatur, a tradition that continues to this day), the DCC, under Ms. Sharp, opened and hosted the DeKalb International Choral Festival, the largest, annual festival of its kind, beginning in 1991. In 2009, Representative Hank Johnson, in a floor speech to Congress, gave a speech honoring her many years of service to the community, after which the United States flag was flown over the capitol in her honor.

Ms. Sharp was named as Outstanding Woman of DeKalb County (1990), Outstanding Georgia Citizen (1998), and included in Who's Who Among American Women (1999, 2000), and Worldwide Who's Who (2013).

Ms. Sharp traveled extensively for pleasure as well as touring with the DCC. She visited Aruba, Puerto Rico, Cuba (in 1955), Mexico (5 times), Venezuela, Colombia, and - her bucket list come true - Machu Picchu.

Mary Anne Sharp lived a full, adventurous and meaningful life, and will be remembered for her boundless energy and persistent joy. She is preceded in death by her father and mother, Lester and Mary Lee Sharp, brother Lester Sharp, Jr., and her longtime best friend, Nancy Bridges. She is survived by her brother John Sharpe (wife Shirley), sister Jane Otten, nephews and nieces, David Sharpe (wife Bonnie), Jennifer Sharpe, Keith Otten (wife Maryellen Gordon), and Julie Otten, grand-nephews and nieces Kenny Chase, Alex Chase, Joseph Chase, Connor Sharpe (wife Julianna) and Emily Sharpe, great grand-nephews Isaac and Noah Sharpe, cousins Fred Sharpe and Lois Cox, and members of her second family, the Bridges, whom she considered her own. She was deeply loved and will be greatly missed.