Dr. Bennie Sharpton

Beloved patriarch, friend, and physician, Dr. Bennie Reeves Sharpton, 73, passed away on Sunday, November 11, 2018.

He is preceded in death by his parents Julian Sylvanus Sharpton and Anne Lula Clawson Sharpton.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth Sharpton; three children and their spouses Brett and Keiko, and Keith and William, and Rachel Sharpton; two grandchildren Daniel and Irene Sharpton; two sisters, Judy Adams (Bill) and Beth Phillips (Hoyt); and a brother, Douglas Sharpton (Marie).

Dr. Sharpton was born in Boone, North Carolina. He attended Carson Newman College and obtained his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. He then attended the Medical College of Georgia for medical school. It was at a medical school interview he met Ruth, his wife of 50 years.

Dr. Sharpton went on to complete his surgical residency through the University of Tennessee in Memphis, where he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He would serve in the Air Force as a major from 1979 to 2010. From 1976 to 1978, he was stationed at Elmendorf Airforce Base in Anchorage, Alaska prior to moving to Haywood County, where he served as a surgeon for 31 years.

Dr. Sharpton is remembered as a Man of God and for his unfailing dedication to serving others. At Haywood Regional Medical Center, he was a lifetime member of the Hospital Authority Board, and was Chief of Staff for two terms. He also served with the Haywood County Board of Health, the Fund for Haywood County, and as a Sunday School teacher and deacon with First Baptist Church Waynesville.  He was a story teller and loyal fishing and hunting buddy.

A service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at First Baptist Church Waynesville with Reverend Dr. Robert Prince III officiating.  The family will receive friends from 12:00 until 1:45 prior to the service at the church.

Flowers are appreciated or memorials may be made to Anne Lula Clawson Sharpton Nursing Scholarship, c/o Watauga High School, 300 Go Pioneers Drive, Boone, NC 28607.

The care of Dr. Sharpton has been entrusted to Wells Funeral Homes and an online memorial register is available at “Obituaries” at www.wellsfuneralhome.com