CARDINGTON – Sharon Kay Payton passed away unexpectantly on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, at home in Ohio from an apparent heart attack. She wore many hats during her life, which started with her July 31, 1939, birth in Leon, Iowa, to parents Frank Edward and Waneta Edwina (Wadley) Bierlein.
Sharon was raised on a farm outside of Kellerton, Iowa. Her entire thirteen years of education was completed at Kellerton Public School in Kellerton, Iowa, with graduation in 1957 as class salutatorian — along with being a sports cheerleader, plus performing publicly on the piano and saxophone. Her lifelong competitive spirit made her the "boss of the school yard" among her peers during preteen years — including her classmate and future husband Gerald — before "attitude changes" in high school.
After high school graduation, Sharon completed an airline reservation training program in Omaha, Nebraska, finishing at the top of her class. She returned to Kellerton to work at Ringgold County Electric Cooperative for three years, until a five-year courtship culminated with her marriage to Gerald James Payton, her school classmate since 1946, in the Kellerton United Methodist Church on June 19, 1960. They moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa, where Gerald finished the final year of his B.A. degree at Iowa State Teacher College while Sharon worked as a typist at the college library and gave birth to Jennifer Lea Payton on July 31, 1961.
They moved to Adel, Iowa, where Gerald served three years as a high school teacher while Sharon worked for the Dallas County Superintendent’s office. Daughter Kathrina Elizabeth Payton was born on March 9, 1964 in Perry, Iowa. They moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, for a year while Gerald completed M.S. graduate studies. They then returned to Iowa in 1965, where Gerald continued graduate studies at Iowa State University (ISU) while Sharon enrolled in her first college classes as a 25-year-old freshman. While being a college student, wife and mother of two daughters, she also developed her level of tennis skills to earn a position on the first ISU women’s tennis team. She completed her B.S. degree in Home Economics Education and M.S. in Food Science by 1971. She was also nominated/selected for membership in Sigma Xi academic honor society.
Sharon and Gerald accepted teaching positions at William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri, where she taught foods and nutrition for fifteen years. During that time, she completed Ph.D. degree requirements at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1985 — at the age of 45 — in the food science program. They then moved to New Orleans, where she accepted a position as a food product developer for the Food Innovisons company. After five years in New Orleans, Sharon's professional career took her to Fremont, Michigan, in 1989, to work as a research scientist for Gerber Baby Food Company. During her nine years at Gerber, she developed several Gerber Graduates entrees plus Fruit Juice Snacks, which are available on grocery shelves twenty-plus years later. She then moved to Columbus, Ohio, to work four years for Borden Foods as a product development research scientist until retiring in 2002. The primary Borden products she developed were Classico brand Alfredo sauce and other red sauces.
Sharon had a lifelong love of horses, starting to ride a pony at age three and then two other horses before completing high school. Although horse ownership was dormant for many years, a 10-year-old mare with a two-year-old foal were obtained while in Michigan, which ignited her equine love in her two daughters and three granddaughters. The two horses moved with her to Ohio, where the herd size expanded to 18 before being reduced to the current 13. During her time in Ohio, Sharon rode horses for several years and hosted several lawn dinner parties for horse friends. Although not actively riding, she enjoyed providing grain/apples and carrots on a daily basis through her final days.
Sharon also did extensive canning of seasonal garden bounty, baked many pies for horse shows and sewed many garments for herself and her family. Her Native American heritage/interest led her to construct buckskin/beaded regalia to be worn by riders and their horses in parades, plus participation in several years of Buffalo Bill Wild West Show reenactments depicting early American western history.
She is survived by her husband, Gerald; two daughters, Jennifer (Chittoor (Hari) Narahari) Payton and Kathrina (Kerry) Kupka; and grandchildren, Kathrina Payton and identical twins, Ashley and Alissa Kupka.
Sharon was preceded in death by her parents.
Funeral arrangements are jointly conducted by Gompf Funeral Home in Cardington and Slade-O’Donnell Funeral Home in Leon, Iowa, with interment scheduled at Maple Row Cemetery in Kellerton, Iowa. A separate memorial gathering in Sharon's honor will be scheduled/announced at two later dates for Ohio and Iowa.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Kellerton United Methodist Church, c/o Danny Webb (Treasurer), 300 North Davis St., Kellerton, IA 50133.
Those wishing to share a memory of Sharon or express a condolence to the Payton family may do so by visiting www.gompffh.com.
