Although they are not charter members of the 100 Club, Sharon and Alex witnessed its birth while managing the Sunlight Inn.  They hosted the first dinner of the 100 Club there in 1990.   Managing the Sunlight Inn is just one of the wide variety of jobs that this talented, interesting couple has held. 

Sharon is almost a Colorado native.  She was born in Salt Lake City, lived with her family around the US, and then settled in Denver when she was ten.   She spent her junior year abroad in Nigeria (’65-’66) during the beginning of its civil war.  She was surprised to find the culture shock much worse when she returned home than when she had arrived in Nigeria; the people at home didn’t have her worldview.  Sharon attended CSU and got her Masters Degree in parasitology there.

Alex lived in Mexico City with his Mexican father and Russian mother until he was nine years old.  His father sent him to an American boarding school in St. Louis, “to learn English.”  He didn’t know a word when he arrived, but learned quickly.  He continued school at a US military academy and then tried engineering at Colorado School of Mines.  Finding engineering was not for him, he moved to CSU and majored in business administration.  That was a good thing, for that’s where he and Sharon met in 1968.

After getting to know one another in college, they went their separate ways for one and a half years, but kept in touch.  Alex returned to Mexico City to work for GE and Sharon worked for Upjohn in Kalamazoo, MI.   Sharon, having had enough of the long distance relationship, went to Mexico to see if Alex would commit.  He did, they married, and they lived in Mexico City until moving to McAllen, Texas in 1984.  Alex commuted to Mexico City and Sharon started a new career in gasoline distribution.  She moved up quickly to VP of Operations; part of her job was taking the Mexican drivers to test drive tanker trucks. 

Not fond of Texas heat and humidity, Sharon persuaded Alex to move to Denver in 1986, where Sharon worked in the ethanol industry and Alex sold cars before becoming production control manager at Ocean Pacific Children’s Wear.  Following a dream, they started looking for a B&B to operate and landed at the Sunlight Inn.  Managing the Sunlight Inn for two and a half years tested their ingenuity and provided a great experience but little money.  They loved the area and wanted to live here, but needed to find eight to five jobs again.  After a 13,000 mile search for the perfect place to live, they ended up in Denver.  This time Sharon was administrative director of the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries and Alex worked in production and inventory control at a software company. 

They both missed Glenwood.  When they retired in 1999, they returned and now live about three and a half miles from the Sunlight Inn.  They continue to be very busy even in retirement.  Alex teaches Spanish and English as a Second Language at CMC and manages the 100 club roster and new website.  Sharon volunteers on several boards and at Valley View Hospital.  Both of them serve on the Literacy Outreach Board.

Sharon and Alex love to travel without a definite plan and have traveled to many places.  A favorite trip was to northern Argentina where they drove five thousand miles in thirty days, enjoying the natural beauty and thick steaks of that huge country.  Their next trips will be to Canada and to Italy, where they hope to learn Italian as well as enjoy the sights. 

Alex is working on his “Ph.D. in skiing” and on becoming a wine connoisseur (he really enjoys wine!).  While living in Mexico, Sharon got involved in fiber arts (quilting and weaving), a hobby that she still pursues.   Her basement workroom is filled with colorful yardage and fibers.  With all the interests and talents shared by this couple, we just don’t know what to expect from them next; only time will tell.
 

by Maggie Pedersen