Helen Jeannette Sharpe

Sharpe, Helen Stover ALBANY Born at home in Valley Falls 20 January 1913, Helen died, as she wished, at home in Albany, October 30, 2006. She was the daughter of the late Peter LeRoy and Lora Agan Stover; sister of the late Charles Agan Stover and Blanche Stover Williams; and wife of the late Herman Taft Sharpe. A graduate of Russell Sage College, she found her career path at Columbia University School of Journalism, working as a freelance writer and editor in many cities until moving to Albany in 1965. She was employed at Blue Cross of Northeastern New York (now Empire), retiring in 1987 as manager of communications. Thereafter, she wrote extensively on her various political causes and social concerns. She is survived by a daughter, Nicole Sharpe of Averill Park; two grandsons, Peter Stover Toop of Averill Park and Micah John R. Toop of Niskayuna, three adored great-grandchildren, Audrey E. and Keara A. Toop and Alexander R.D. Toop; and many splendid friends, all of whom she treasured. A self-termed "born-again atheist", she was a member of the Capital District Humanist Society and of the First Unitarian-Universalist Society of Albany. She left strict instructions that there be no schmaltzy sentimentality in mourning her, urging that in lieu of expressions of grief, people who wish to remember her continue to support the Kyoto Protocol and oppose the Bush Administration. A celebration of Hele will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, 11 November, at the First Unitarian-Universalist Church, 405 Washington Ave., Albany. Published in Albany Times Union from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5, 2006