Sharon Kay Rodgers

Sharon Kay Rodgers, 86, of Robinson, IL, passed away on December 23, 2025, at Crawford Memorial Hospital in Robinson. She was born on August 29, 1939, in New Hebron, the daughter of Roscoe & Etta Mae (Matheney) Beard. She spent her early years in New Hebron before moving with her family to a small farm in Duncanville, where the steady rhythms of home and hard work began shaping the life she would build.

Those early years were also where Sharon began to learn what she would spend a lifetime practicing: caring for people in practical, tangible ways. She had a gift for making a home feel like a place of rest, and she carried that gift into every season. If you walked through her door, you could expect to be asked one question almost immediately: "Are you hungry?" You never left her home hungry, either. Food was central to Sharon's table because people were central to Sharon's heart. Her noodles were famous, and so was her apple pie. Coming from a German family of cooks, she understood that meals do more than fill you up. They gather people. They slow life down. They create a kind of togetherness that becomes memory.

Before she ever became Sharon Rodgers, she met the young man who would be her partner in that kind of life. Sharon first met Richard "Dick" Rodgers at one of her family reunions. At the time, Dick was dating Sharon's cousin Faith, but he later told others that he knew he loved Sharon the moment he saw her. Their story moved quickly from there, and on May 12, 1956, Sharon eloped with Dick. She was 16, and he was 18, and they began married life with very little, but with a whole lot of love. Over the decades that followed, they proved that love and faithfulness can build a rich life even when it starts small.

Sharon was not afraid of work, and she never carried herself as if any job was beneath her. In those early years, she ironed, cleaned houses, and spent seasons as a homemaker. She also sewed with remarkable skill. She made many of her kids' clothes, as well as clothes for others. People would bring her material, and she would turn it into something beautiful and wearable with a speed and confidence that made it look easy. It was just one more way she took what she had and used it to care for the people around her.

She eventually found employment at Thompson's Drug Store in the pharmacy, and she stayed on as it transitioned to Kook & Link. Later, she began what would become a long and faithful chapter at the Schmidt Clinic, where she worked for 32 years as the receptionist, also handling billing and paperwork. For decades, she was one of the steady, familiar presences people counted on, the kind of person who made a place run better simply by showing up and doing the work well. After that, she provided private care for the Schmidts for about a decade. Following Dr. Bill's passing, Sharon continued helping Betty, serving her with the same consistent devotion that marked Sharon's entire life.

That same devotion always found its truest home with Dick. Together, they walked and rode bikes, making time for the simple practices that keep a marriage steady. They shared a green thumb, too. Sharon loved tending roses, planting apple trees with plenty of apples to enjoy every year, and keeping a produce garden full of good things. And more often than not, those good things made their way right back into her kitchen, because Sharon's joy was never in having more than others, but in giving what she had, especially to the man and to the family she loved. After all, family was the center of Sharon's world. Life with her was made up of shared days and well-worn traditions: fishing together, then frying the catch; time on Dick's boat at Olney Lake; and the yearly trip to Kentucky Lake, where 13 family members would crowd into a cabin and fill it with laughter, stories, and the kind of togetherness that memories are made of. Sundays had their own familiar rhythm, ending week after week with dinner at Charley's in Vincennes.

Sharon would joke that every time she looked down the road, she would see another grandkid coming to move in with her. Those who knew her smiled at that, because it rang true. Her home was a landing place, and her love always made room. She had the sweetest heart. She cared about everybody, and she was there for everybody. Sharon was a listening ear and a steady presence, quick to ask how others were doing without thought for herself. Her grandkids were dearly loved, as were her great-grandkids, and they experienced her love not as an idea, but as something tangible and dependable.

All of these pieces, the work, the service, the welcome, the care, were not separate from Sharon's faith. They flowed from it. Sharon was a dedicated and longtime member of the Robinson First Baptist Church. She served in the King's Kids program and drove the bus to get kids to and from church. She helped with Vacation Bible School every year and served on the Christian Education board for years. And when her health made it difficult to attend in person, she still made sure to watch church online every Sunday morning. Her faith was never merely something she claimed. It was something she lived, week after week, in a life that consistently made room for others. And now, she has stepped into the home her faith pointed toward all along. We feel her absence here, but we do not grieve as those without hope, because Sharon is not lost. She is in the presence of her Savior, and the welcome she practiced on earth has given way to the welcome of heaven.

She is survived by her daughters, Karen Stinson and Pam Dorn; by seven grandchildren, Bradley & Dutches Lowe, Mindy Stinson, Cody Stinson, Angie Lowe, and Brooke & Jed Kamplain; by ten great-grandchildren; by her brother, Richard Beard; and by her nephew, Albert & wife Charlene Davis. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 60 years, Dick Rodgers, her daughter, Debbie Lowe, and her brother, Jerry Beard.

A time of visitation will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Monday, January 5, 2026, at the Robinson First Baptist Church. Funeral services will immediately follow at 11:30 a.m., with Pastor Trey Reid officiating. Burial will be in the Robinson New Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the "Robinson First Baptist Church", with envelopes available at the church. The Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson is assisting the family at this time.