Obituary of David Sharp

David Ross Sharp died suddenly but peacefully on July 9, 2023, after a 25 year illness at the age of 79.
 
The oldest of 3 siblings, David was born on April 13, 1944, to Morey and Bernice Sharp.  He remained close with his sisters Janet and Sharon throughout his life.
 
After graduating from George Washington High School, he attended the University of Colorado where he worked toward an accounting degree but left school one semester early to focus on his full-time job at the iconic Denver shoe store Fontius.
 
Hard work and reinvention were the themes of David’s life.  Over the course of his working years, he had multiple careers that all required him to learn new skills.  
 
In high school, he was a manufacturer’s rep for Krazy Feet slippers.  After he married, he and wife Vicki ran the Pick-a-Rib restaurant (also known as Dave & Vicki’s Barbecue) at the Weinreich family’s famous bowling alley Monaco Lanes.  
 
During this time he also served in the Colorado Army National Guard Reserves and for a short time as a reserve police officer. 
 
He bought a bar down the street from Monaco lanes and turned it into a local hangout for the Denver Spurs hockey team and cops before he remade it into Off the Record, a popular discotheque complete with mirror balls and lighted floors. 
 
After Monaco lanes was sold, he closed the bar and with his wife, mother-in-law Doris and sister-in-law Sheree opened Johnny W’s bowling pro shop.  For this job, he learned to drill bowling balls – and had the opportunity to work with some of Denver’s “who’s who,” including Denver Bronco Lyle Alzado.
 
He added a screen printing business to the repertoire.  For this he needed to learn not only new technical abilities, but artistic ones as well – and served a wide variety of customers from bowling leagues to Jackson’s Hole sports bar.
 
After that, he returned to sales, first as a manufacturer’s rep for clothing company Gotcha Covered, selling women’s fashion jeans across the country; then as a realtor; and then as a rep for various furniture manufacturers, specializing in motion furniture. 
 
As a salesman, he developed a reputation for integrity and impeccable customer service, and his customers became like family.  Yet even with all the travel, he was still a presence in his family’s life, once driving back from New Mexico just to attend a little league baseball game. 
 
Outside of work, he was passionate about sports, especially the Denver Broncos and Nuggets; his dogs; auto racing (NASCAR and Indy), corvettes and motorcycles; greyhound racing at Mile High Kennel Club; music, especially Motown, Doo-wop, James Brown and ZZ Top (whom he last had the chance to see live at Fiddler’s Green in 2021); and playing poker in Las Vegas just long enough to make money for dinner and a show. 
 
Like his father, David suffered terribly from the effects of Rheumatoid Arthritis - which ultimately kept a good man down.  
 
In addition to his wife and sisters (and sister Sharon’s husband Ernie Tilford), he is survived by sons Todd and Brandon who blessed him with two wonderful daughters-in-law (Stacey and Carla) and seven loving grandchildren (Jarrett, Ethan, Adam, Ryan, Spencer, Kyle and Benjamin). 
 
Services will be held Thursday, 7/13, at 1:00pm, at Temple Emanuel and will be live-streamed on Feldman Mortuary's YouTube Channel. 
 
Interment will take place immediately after at Emanuel Cemetery. 
 
All are invited to return to Temple Emanuel after the burial for a reception and light lunch.
 
Shiva minyan will be Friday from 12pm and 4pm, and will attend outdoor Shabbat Services Friday night at Temple Emanuel. 
 
Contributions can be made to Temple Emanuel or the Rheumatoid Arthritis Foundation at helpfightra.org.