lit a candle 29d agoI only learned of Walter Sharp this week, through a small piece about the last of the WWII veterans still living past a hundred. A corporal and sharpshooter, they said, and 101 years old. It struck me how quietly a whole generation is leaving us now, one obituary at a time. Riposa in pace, Signor Sharp.
Their story
Walter Lee Sharp Sr., often referred to in family and community records as Walter Sharp II, was a World War II veteran from the Jeffersontown area of Kentucky who lived to the age of 101. He served in the United States Army during the war as a corporal and was…
Walter Lee Sharp Sr., often referred to in family and community records as Walter Sharp II, was a World War II veteran from the Jeffersontown area of Kentucky who lived to the age of 101. He served in the United States Army during the war as a corporal and was trained as a sharpshooter, earning the Army Good Conduct Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal for his service. After returning home from the war, he built a long working career as an employee of General Electric in the Louisville area before retiring.
He was known to family and friends as a devoted husband, father and grandfather. He married Anna Sharp, whom his family described as the light of his life, and the couple raised four sons together. He was a doting grandfather and great-grandfather to a large extended family, and in his later years he was remembered for his love of fishing and his enthusiasm as a sports fan. Members of his community and his family have described him as a steady, warm presence who carried his wartime generation's values of duty and quiet service into everyday life for more than a century.
Walter Lee Sharp Sr. died on September 14, 2026, at the age of 101, surrounded by his family. As of this writing, no cause of death has been made public. His death was announced through an obituary published by Ratterman & Sons Funeral Home of Jeffersontown, Kentucky, which described him passing peacefully with loved ones at his side.
His passing was noted in local and veteran-focused news coverage as the loss of one of the dwindling number of American World War II veterans still living into the 2020s. He is remembered above all as a family man: he was preceded in death by his wife Anna, his parents, two sisters and a brother, and he is survived by his four sons, twenty two grandchildren, thirteen great grandchildren and a wide circle of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Funeral and memorial arrangements were handled by Ratterman & Sons Funeral Home in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by whas11.com.
That generation deserves more than a small piece, but I'm glad you noticed.