Sharon S. (Sturgess) Klynstra

Sharon Klynstra (Sturgess), known to many as "Cookie" (and to some only as Cookie), was born in Saginaw, Michigan. Her love of movies began behind a candy counter. Her father Howard owned a movie theater, and young Sharon worked there, surrounded by the glow of the silver screen and the smell of popcorn. Upstairs in the projector room, her parents hosted cocktail parties where friends gathered to watch films together, an early lesson in the art of bringing people together for the joy of movies, and maybe her introduction to the “martoonie.”

That lesson stuck. While working as a secretary at Jervis Corp, she met an engineer named Jim. They married in 1964, and Sharon spent the following six decades building and nurturing her family in Grandville, MI and on the farm in Hudsonville, MI. She traveled widely, from Arizona to Liechtenstein to Shijiazhuang, always curious, always game. She was a glamper before the word existed, spending summers at Ottawa Beach playing frisbee and cribbage with her son Michael, and socializing at nearby Baldwin Oaks Campground, practically in her own backyard. She and Jim took road trips through the Arizona desert, racking up miles and memories.

Sharon was a mother who showed up with her whole heart. She made Mickey Mouse pancakes for Michael and played golf with him (though she did bench him for a while when his temper got the better of him). She was Kim's best friend and housemate for many years, right to the end. And the two of them were trouble together. Good times on trips to Florida: casing the joint next door, getting the timing just right to sneak into the hot tub when no one was around, skinny dipping in the ocean under cover of night. They'd also sneak away to the cottage together to chill and play games, partners in mischief to the last. She shared her love of quilting with her daughter Lisa, and the two of them turned long bus rides to quilt shows into uproarious games of Mad Libs, leaving fellow passengers baffled at how two people could be having that much fun. Sharon maybe never did quite nail down what an adverb was, but she understood how to be fully present with the people she loved.

Her enthusiasm for the holidays was legendary, immortalized in the family's cherished Super-8 film, "The Christmaser." She loved her children, adored her grandchildren, and made everyone around her feel like the party had finally started.

Sharon is preceded in death by her mother Elsie and father Howard, and her brothers Howie and Bill. She is survived by her husband Jim, her son Michael, her daughters Kim and Lisa, her sister Janice, her grandchildren Alexandra, Archer, Megan, Michael, Rachelle, and Zack, and her great grandchildren Annika, Aaron, Gorgie, Crue, Teyva, and Teagan.

In addition to the laughter and love she brought to those around her, her sayings will live on too, including a colorful phrase that served as her all-purpose way of saying "here you go," "your turn," or "have at it." (If you know, you know.)

And so: there she is.

Or as Sharon would say, "Sew a button on a bar of soap!"

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