John Thomas Sharp

beloved husband, father and grandfather passed away Sunday September 14, 2008. John led a full and enriched life. The son of John Robert Sharp and Laura Ellen James Sharp, he was born in Dalhart Texas on November 16,1924. John attended college at West Texas State College and Antioch College in Ohio. He obtained his medical degree from Columbia University, served his internship at Presbyterian Hospital in NYC, and completed residency training at Dartmouth's Mary Hitchcock Hospital and specialty training in rheumatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. John served in both the US Navy and the Naval Reserve.His career allowed him the opportunity to teach and conduct research at several well-known institutions across the country, including the Mass General Hospital (Boston), Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit), Baylor College of Medicine (Houston), University of Illinois Medical School (Champaign Urbana) and the Rose Medical Center (Denver). After his first retirement, he took on the challenge of establishing a rheumatology practice in the underserved area of rural Tifton Georgia. Following his second retirement, he and his wife Marjorie moved to Bainbridge Island where, as an independent consultant, he chose to focus on the effectiveness of various drug protocols used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.Over the course of his career, Dr. Sharp also served as chief of staff of the VA Hospital in Danville, Illinois and enjoyed appointments at Emory University and the University of Washington medical schools which allowed him to continue his teaching and research activities. In 1993 he was designated a Master by the American College of Rheumatology.A constant throughout his career was a focus on long-term research measuring the effectiveness of numerous drugs used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. He was well known for developing a protocol for the measurement of the erosion of joints, known as the "Sharp Method". This methodology remains the standard for accurate measurement of the changes to joint spacing over long periods of time. His lifelong research efforts entailed tracking hundreds of patients per study and completing comparisons of numerous sets of x-rays for each patient monitoring treatment periods ranging from ten to fifteen years. In recent years Dr. Sharp invested long hours seeking to automate much of the "Sharp Methodology" utilizing computer programming tools. His goal was to facilitate faster and more precise measurement so that future drug treatment protocols could be more efficiently and accurately tracked.He possessed considerable intellectual curiosity. He saw the world from a realistic viewpoint while always maintaining an unflagging sense of optimism. He held strong views without being dogmatic. He was always interested in the views of others, especially as to what those views could teach him. He lived through the difficulties of the depression, World War II and the Korean War. While these events shaped his personal philosophy, he consistently chose the optimistic view and strove to see the good in people.He maintained his wit, his intellect and wry sense of humor and worked on various loose ends of the many projects he was involved in right up to his last days. He was an active Rotarian for many years and for the last ten years actively participated in the Bainbridge Island Chapter activities. His concern for the environment led him in recent years to become a stronger supporter of Islandwood and its endeavors. He is survived by Marjorie, his wife of 59 years, three sons - John, Tom and Jeff and seven grandchildren. He was a devoted husband and amazing father. He was loved and will be missed greatly. In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation to help continue his life's work. http://www.rheumatology.org/ref/The family wishes to thank the staff of Martha and Mary for the gentle, compassionate and respectful care provided to John during the final days of his life.