Sharon Lopez

Obituary

Sharon Lopez, 84, of Tampa, FL, passed away peacefully on May 2nd 2026, with her husband by her side.

She was born on July 29th, 1941 in Miami, FL and graduated from Hialeah High School. Sharon was an exceptional woman. Sharon put herself through college at the University of Florida. She eventually settled in Greensboro, NC and was a high school teacher until she retired from the State of North Carolina.

That is not even half of the story of Sharon’s life. While teaching she learned how to fly and went onto become a certified flight instructor. Sharon’s drive motivated her to get her Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. In the February/March 1983 edition of the “Golden Triad” magazine, under the article “83 People to Know in 83”, Sharon was listed as number 48. In 1985 Sharon applied for the NASA Teacher in Space Project. Of 42,000 applicants, Sharon was selected as one of the finalists.

To the benefit of many who loved Sharon, she was not selected, as we recall the January 28th 1986 terrible Shuttle disintegration. Sharon was featured in a Greensboro daily news article on February 21st 1985 entitled “English Teacher may have the Right Stuff” written by Jim Jenkins. Sharon was also featured in a local news segment on October 9th 1986 as the “Positively Piedmont Person of the Week” anchored by Cynthia Smoot. After her retirement she decided to go back to work and became a flight attendant for Mesa Airlines, a regional carrier for USAirways.

She is survived, loved and missed by her husband, Albert T. Strauss.