Sharon Shores Gadd

Sharon Shores Gadd

On May 18, 2026, Sharon Shores Gadd, 85, of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania passed away peacefully. She is survived by her sister Sandra Shores Brown, her daughter, Kristin Von Duskin-Gadd, her sons Christopher John Duskin and Richard Barry Gadd, Jr., as well as five grandchildren, two nephews, and two grand nieces. She was predeceased by her mother Grace Doherty Shores, her father Von Roy Shores, and her brothers Von Roy Shores III and John Francis Shores.

Shary’s father was a 1936 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and attained the rank of Major General, U.S. Air Force. Thanks to her father’s military career, Shary moved frequently, an experience that shaped her resilient and adventurous nature. As a young child, her family lived in Asheville, North Carolina while her father was involved in planning the North African campaign of World War II and then in the protection of the Panama Canal Zone. She had fond memories of her time in the mountains of North Carolina. Shary also treasured the three years her family spent stationed in Oslo, Norway starting in 1949 where she learned to speak Norwegian and fell in love with the country’s culture, fjords, and snowy weather. Once stateside again, she lived on more U.S. Air Force bases, including Wright-Patterson in Ohio and Stewart in New York. She graduated with the Washingtonville High School Class of 1959 in Washingtonville, New York, where she met her future husband and made lifelong friendships.

Shary earned a Bachelor of Arts from University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She soon secured a teaching position at Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan during the Vietnam War. She loved to share that she traveled from McChord AFB to her job in Japan on a C-130 cargo plane. Shary reminisced that Kadena Elementary School days customarily began with the roar of bomber engines. After Okinawa, Shary taught school at R.A.F. Chicksands in Bedfordshire, England. In the 1980s, Shary returned to teaching first as a 2nd grade teacher at Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Vienna, Virginia and then as a substitute teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools. A former pupil described her teaching style as strict but fair. She was passionate about learning and, as a mother and grandmother, enthusiastically supported her family’s intellectual pursuits.

Shary lived in Virginia for more than two decades, raising her family and managing the household while also holding jobs in teaching and, eventually, a government contracting firm. In the late 1990s, she heeded her mantra of “take time before time takes you” and headed west for adventure. She first moved to Durango, Colorado to ski at Purgatory resort and to climb eight of Colorado’s “Fourteener” mountain peaks.

Next, she returned to her childhood home of Asheville, North Carolina where she lived near her daughter and enjoyed the hiking and culture of the southern Appalachians. After Asheville, Shary spent a season as a park employee at Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor Maine, working on Cadillac Mountain and sharing an apartment with dear friends from her twenties. From Maine, Shary moved west again to Park City, Utah, where she lived for ten years, skiing the long runs of Deer Valley, working at KinderSport, and forming many wonderful friendships. Shary volunteered at the Park City Library and the Utah Olympic Park, home to numerous World Cup events that Shary found truly exhilarating.

Her last cross-country move brought Shary to Pittsburgh where she enjoyed being a part of her daughter’s family life while maintaining connections with her friends and relatives across the miles.

People found Shary irresistible. She was charming and funny, small but mighty, sophisticated yet approachable. Her outlook was positive and her energy was high. She had a keen eye for beauty. She loved gardens, movies, reading, history, geology, dancing, travel, jokes, mountains, snow, babies, dogs, long walks, and long talks. Shary left her mark on our hearts, and we are all better having known her.

Family and friends are welcome on Saturday, May 30 at Freyvogel-Slater Funeral Directors, 112 Fort Couch Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15241. Visitation begins at 2:00 p.m. until time of service at 4:00 p.m. In July, a celebration of life will be held in Park City, Utah.

In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to the USAF Pararescue Foundation, www.pararescuefoundation.org or a charity of your choice.

www.slaterfuneral.com