AFRH-G Resident Highlight - Sharon Price

By Lori Kerns | Librarian

Sharon Price was born in a little town north of Worcester, Massachusetts called Holden. She was raised, along with her brother who eventually became a Marine, in a military family. Her father had served as a drill instructor in the U.S. Marine Corps and also served in the U.S. Army. Although the military heritage was ingrained in her family, Sharon never dreamed she would serve.

After completing high school, she began working doing mostly administrative jobs. It was not until her late twenties that she got the advice from a WWII Navy veteran to look into the military and see all the benefits a career could provide. Because she always enjoyed travelling, she knew this would also provide her different opportunities to travel the world. Sharon took the advice and went to a Navy recruiter. At the time, the Navy had enough women employed, especially administrative personnel, so she had to wait two years before a position came open.

With her administrative background, she was qualified to work as a cryptologic technician (CTA), a rate this is now combined with the yeoman and personnelman rates. A military benefit she never saw coming was finding her future husband. Not only did she gain a husband, she also gained two stepsons when she married. Sharon served 20 years (for her “it’s not just a job, it’s an adventure) in the Navy before retiring.

In 1994, during a retirement advisement class she came across an AFRH newsletter/fact sheet in some of the planning materials. Something told her to hold on to that article. About a year later, she received a retiree newsletter and spotted another article about the two campuses of AFRH. Again in 1999, 2002, 2003, and 2004 she was reminded by articles (she kept them all) that the retirement homes were available to her. In 2010 and then in 2013, Fleet Reserve Magazine had excellent illustrated articles about AFRH-G which convinced her to visit both AFRH-W and AFRH-G campuses. She made a point of visiting each over the next two years. In 2015, when she entered the lobby of AFRH-G, she knew this was where she wanted to be and she applied on the spot!

It took two years before her name moved up the list to move into AFRH-G. Sharon, with her vibrant, positive, hard-working demeanor, realized when she moved into the Gulfport Home that the Navy had taken care of her once again. Her exact words about living in the Home are, “This is the icing on the military cake.” She has since paid it forward by volunteering in the train room by using her theatre skills creating scenery like little towns. She also lends her time to serving meals to residents who are unable to make it to the dining hall. Before the pandemic, she would also lend her musical talents to the drumming sessions and helped with hand massages for the residents in the upper levels of care, or as she likes to call them “elder elders.” In addition to volunteering, she also likes to keep busy by reading, swimming, playing in tournaments and bingo, and by creating masterpieces in the art room. Other interests for Sharon include animals and theatre. She also enjoys keeping up with what is happening in Disney World and Universal Studios, interests she acquired during her time as a travel agent in the Tampa area. Sharon is most definitely a treasure and a wonderful asset to AFRH-G.