Sharon Maura O'Driscoll

Sharon Maura O’Driscoll. (1960 – 2025)

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Sharon Maura O’Driscoll of Tucson, AZ., on Christmas Day 2025 due to metastasized breast cancer.

Born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1960, Sharon grew up the second of seven children (one adopted) in a Catholic family of Irish origin on both sides. After the family moved to Atlanta for her father’s role as Safety Engineer with Southern Railway, her childhood abruptly ended when her older sister was killed in a tragic accident in 1969. At age 18, Sharon contracted a Synovial Sarcoma, which was removed and, thanks to regular motorcycle runs by her mother to acquire fresh liver, successfully treated with the alternative Gerson therapy, an experience which would influence her approach to health and her career in nursing. Shortly thereafter, Sharon took a gap-year and moved to France, by herself, ultimately working as an au pere in Aix-en-Provence.

After developing a life-long love of French éclairs, she returned to the States to study Art at the University of Georgia, ultimately completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, cum laude, at Georgia State University (1986). During this time (and again following the lead of her mother, Marie), she took the EST Training in 1981, where she was first spied among hundreds of participants by her future husband, Robert Miller. Although they had a terrible first date and she refused his first proposal, they were ultimately married on 9/11/1987, opening an adventurous 39 years of marriage that took them from Atlanta, Genova, Clemson, Charleston and, in 2010, to Tucson. Sharon, who was a master storyteller (“never ruin a good story with the truth!”), often said about her wedding (with a wry smile and a sideways glance), “More than one major disaster occurred on 9/11!”

Sharon gave birth to three children: Austin (1983), Aran (1992), and Alexander (1994)—naturally and at home whenever possible. Known as “Dutchy” to her grandchildren, a corruption of the sobriquet “Dutchess” by which she had hoped to be known, she was a woman of developed tastes, insatiable curiosity, love of adventure, and a skeptical quest for truth. An enthusiast knitter, sewer, quilter, baker, and gardener, Sharon made life more delicious, beautiful, and comfortable for her family, despite being notorious for burning things—including oven mitts. Possessed of a quick wit and radiant beauty, the sound of her laughter will ever echo for those who knew her.

After a decade as a freelance fabric and graphic designer, Sharon reinvented herself. Moving to Charleston in 2001 to live in a house whose interior still bore paint that witnessed the Civil War, Sharon earned a BS in Nursing from the Medical University of SC (2005). From 2005-2010 she was an Operating Room (OR) nurse at the Medical University of SC, assisting pediatric cardio-thoracic surgeries, heart transplants, and cardiac assistive device implants. After moving to Tucson, she worked in the OR at the University of Arizona Medical Center on the cardio-thoracic and Neuro-ENT-Plastics teams. She joined the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in 2015 and worked as an OR Co-Educator, Charge Nurse, Staff Scheduler, and Materials Management Assistant, ultimately finishing her career as Assistant Chief of Sterile Processing Services.

Sharon is survived by her mother, five siblings, a husband, three children, three grandchildren, and two dogs, all of whom endeavor to obey her admonition, “If you don’t make life Special, guess what? IT AIN’T.”

Avenidas Cremation & Burial is serving the family. There will be no public ceremonies. Memorial gifts may be directed to Narcotics Anonymous (https://na.org/contribute/). The website mistakenly says only members can contribute. If you wish to include a notification, use robertmillerarchitect@gmail.com.