Sharon Alfaro

Sharon Ann Alfaro, 75, (nee Conroy) of Mount Airy, Maryland, passed away suddenly from complications of a routine surgery, on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, MD.

Born on September 21, 1942, at Father Baker’s in Lackawanna, NY, as Bernadette Eileen Regan to a lovely young woman, Joan Regan, and lovingly adopted and raised daughter of the late Dr. Paul Robert Conroy, Sr. and Marian (Ordway) Conroy.

A lifelong learner, Sharon graduated High School from Holy Cross Academy in Washington, DC at the age of 16, Class of 1959. Graduated University of Maryland, BS Education, 1977, Bowie State University, master’s degree in Human Resource Development, 1987.

As a young mother, she voluntarily taught art classes in classrooms and even in a neighborhood in Mayagüez, PR one summer.  After studying geology and getting a teaching certificate, she taught science at Hammond High School in Columbia, MD from 1977 until her retirement in 1993, due to disability.

Sharon was an active participant of the MS Support Group in Carroll County and attended monthly meetings in Westminster for almost 20 years.  She was also a regular student and attendee of classes and programs at the Senior Center in Mount Airy, MD.  In the 1970s, she started the Greenbelt Marching Kazoo Band.

Sharon was a curious and creative force of nature.  In the 1970s, she was an early participant in NOW (National Organization of Women) and Silva Mind Control (what would now be considered mindfulness meditation).  She easily and happily adopted Hispanic culture by learning to speak Spanish, cooking a mean pot of rice & beans, and dancing her fool head off at every opportunity.  What she loved most about this adopted culture, though, was the all-inclusive and multi-generational parties that included everyone from the 100-year-old abuela to the newborn baby.  Sharon loved laughing, having fun, traveling, reading, writing, socializing with friends, and in her younger years, painting, acting and other creative arts.  She spent most of her adult life in Greenbelt, MD, where she had many close friends and fond memories of the tightknit community where she raised her family.

Sharon decided to study geology in college when, in her words, “I flew over Arecibo in a small plane, from San Juan to Mayagüez, looked out the window, and wanted to know how those mountains were formed.”  Even confined to a wheelchair, physically impaired by multiple sclerosis for over 30 years, she was known for LIVING every single day to the fullest and her last words were, “I still have things to do.”

She is survived by a brother: Paul Robert Conroy, Jr. (Liz) and three Sisters: Patricia Benton, Linda Benton and Loretta McCollum; Sons: Robert Alfaro (Marcie), of Crosby, TX and James Paul Woodworth (Gayle) of Emmett, ID; Daughters: Theresa Alfaro Daytner (Allen) of Mount Airy, MD and Regina Diane Miller of Littlestown, PA; Grandchildren: Katherine Buechlein (Clint), Alysha Daytner, Kelsey Hawk, Jacqueline Woodworth-Kennel (Jake), Callie Miller, Michelle Daytner, Julia Miller, Candice Daytner, Ben Miller, Logan Daytner, Matthew Daytner and six great-grandchildren. She is also survived by five incredibly loving nieces and nephews (Nate, Nora, Lisa, Jeannine and Steven) and their families and in-laws, Sonny & Lita Portillo. The family would like to thank her caregivers at Pleasant View Nursing Home and the places in Mount Airy she frequently visited, for their help and kindness.

The family will receive friends from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at Stauffer Funeral Homes, 8 East Ridgeville in Mt. Airy, MD.

A celebration of Sharon's life journey will take place at 12:00 pm on Saturday, April 7, 2018, at Stauffer Funeral Homes, 8 East Ridgeville in Mt. Airy, MD. A reception will immediately follow at the funeral home.

Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Race to Erase Multiple Sclerosis Foundation,

Expressions of sympathy may be offered to the family at StaufferFuneralHome.com.