Obituary of Sharon K. Bryant

Sharon K. Bryant, age 75 of rural Oxford, died Sunday, May 15, 2022, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics surrounded by her family. Funeral services will be held at 10am Friday, May 20, 2022, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oxford with burial to follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery near Oxford. Visitation will be at the church on Thursday from 4 to 7 pm. A memorial fund has been established to support causes that was important to Sharon around the community. To share a thought, memory or condolence with her family please visit the Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service website @ www.gayandciha.com. Sharon K. Novak was born August 26, 1946, at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City the daughter of Frank and Mary Margaret “Peggy” (Kiracofe) Novak. She attended rural country school and then was the first class to graduate from the newly formed Clear Creek High School in 1964. It was here that Sharon met her future husband, Bill Bryant. They were married on June 21, 1969, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oxford. The couple made their home in rural Oxford. Prior to marriage Sharon had worked at Hawkeye Wholesale, then began working at Mercy Hospital where she worked for nearly 15 years before leaving and being a stay at home mom and supporting her husband in their trucking business. She later worked at Stiers as a hobby job to attempt to pay for her collectables purchases, which always seemed more than her paychecks! Sharon was an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oxford, being involved with the Altar & Rosary Society and teaching CCD. She was a leader of the Junior Forresters, The Green Castle Tractor Pullers Auxiliary, volunteered in the classroom when her daughters were in school, and enjoyed hosting her community card club. Bill and Sharon are life long Iowa Basketball fans where Sharon could always be heard voicing her opinions to the refs. They were rarely home; out to dinner many nights, to the races, the casino, and traveling the country with dear friends kept them on the go. When Sharon was home she enjoyed watching her birds and working in her “jungle” more commonly known as flowerbeds. She liked things to grow wild and free and would often allow milkweeds to spout up amongst lavender to please the butterflies. Sharon was best known for her boundless generosity, kind spirt, and unwavering faith. She always put other’s needs before her own right up to her last precious hours. To know her was to love her. Above all her pride and joy was family which to Sharon family was not just blood. Sharon loved nothing more in life than being a grandma and she was darn good at it. She would drop everything to be of help to her girls, especially when it came to the grandkids. Sharon spent every minute with her grandchildren like it could be her last, packing in as much love, passing on wisdom, and making as many memories as possible while she could. Her family includes her husband, Bill; their two daughters and their husbands, Janese Joecken and Chip, and Jeanna Hegewald and John; four grandchildren, Payton, Kendyl, Trevor and Tripp; Sharon’s brother and his wife, Richard Novak and Norma; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, other family members and many friends will dearly miss Sharon. Sharon was preceded in death by her parents. xoxo I love you, a bushel and a peck and hug around the neck… See you in the funny papers