Sharon Rose Rhinesmith

Sharon Rose Rhinesmith of Burr Oak, Michigan, passed away on March 12, 2026 at Parkview LaGrange Hospital. She was 84 years old. Sharon fell at home on January 16 and died from complications following a broken back and subsequent surgery.

Born on June 30, 1941 in Goshen, Indiana, she was the daughter of Hubert LeRoy and Laura Mishler Rhinesmith. The family moved to Michigan in 1946, where they became active members of Locust Grove Mennonite Church in Burr Oak. As a young girl, Sharon accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and later taught summer Bible school and Sunday school there for many years.

She attended four different country schools before graduating from night school at Sturgis High School. She also completed a three-year Michigan Mennonite winter Bible course at Fairview. Her working life included positions at Lamb Knit and Colmers in Colon, two years of Mennonite Voluntary Service at the Virginia Home in Richmond, Virginia, and many years at Froh Community Home in Sturgis, where she became the first Activities Director after completing continuing education at the University of Michigan and the Home Care Association of Michigan. She later volunteered for 25 years with Project Promise in Goshen and concluded her career as a receptionist for several local optometrists and dentists.

Sharon was a founding member of Firm Foundation Ministries in Centreville, where she served as the first church historian and as a valued member of the worship team, using flags of worship to glorify the Lord. In 2011, she fulfilled a lifelong dream by participating in a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

She is survived by her brother Charles and his wife Sheryl Rhinesmith of Wilmington, Ohio, her sister Janelle Graber of Elkhart, Indiana, and her brother-in-law Kevin and his wife Pamela Eichorn Mitchell, along with many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, and great-great-nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her sisters Gloria and Rebecca Rhinesmith Mitchell, her brother-in-law John Ganger, and her nephews Dustin Rhinesmith and Jay Ganger.