In Loving Memory of Sharon Zamora

Loveland Resident, Sharon Zamora, was one of those people who never met a stranger. She was a kind, thoughtful, quiet soul, that navigated life with a twinkle in her eye.

We could all learn a thing or three from Sharon. Though challenged with health issues, she ALWAYS maintained a positive attitude, and continued to be active and engaged in the community (with the assistance of her dear husband Ernie).

Sharon's favorite holiday was Christmas. She is seen here enjoying a holiday party with Friends of THRIVE.

Sharon served on the Larimer County Office on Aging Council for sixteen years. Members are asked to share their biographies, so that others on the Council can get to know them better. According to fellow council member Elaine Boni, Sharon felt too shy to speak for herself, so Elaine interviewed her, wrote her story, and shared it with the council. The following is Sharon's story as told by her two years ago:

"I, Sharon Zamora, was born in Igloo, South Dakota. It doesn't exist any more. It was just a bunch of quonset huts, and my dad worked there. I am a member of the Lakota Ogallala Sioux nation.

There were nine girls, four boys and one half sister in my family. I was the fifth from the oldest. Two first cousins came to live with us when their parents died. That made fifteen kids.

We had a home in Manderson, which is thirty miles from the Pine Ridge Reservation. We lived in a log house with 300 acres around it. We had from ten to fifteen horses, and I rode them. My mom and dad spoke the Sioux language, and we kids could understand it, but didn?t speak it.

I went to a Catholic Indian School, the Holy Rosary Mission. The Franciscan sisters were strict but kind. I lived at the school for nine months of the year and went to the school for twelve years. All of my childhood, I wanted to be a nurse, and the nuns were arranging for me to go to a nursing school in California. However, my mother needed me to help her at home, so those dreams were dashed.

My mom and I moved to Longmont and we both worked there. I met Ernie and married at eighteen.

We?ve been married for 53 years. I had a daughter; then another daughter six years later, and then eight years later another daughter. Two of my daughters live in California and one lives here in Longmont. I have three granddaughters, and one died very young of SIDS. There are three grandsons and three great grandsons who live in Colorado Springs. I am very close to my family and proud of my native heritage and my faith.

As an adult, my dream came true, and my mother paid to send me to Nursing School at Front Range Community College. I graduated in 1990, the first Native American to graduate from there. Unfortunately, a bad back prevented me from lifting, so I could not work as a nurse.

However, I worked at the Thompson Valley School District."

A Gofund me has been created to help pay for bills associated with Sharons' illness and passing.