BOZEMAN — Sharon Ann Kelly, of Bozeman, died Oct. 29, 2009, following a stroke.

      She was born April 13, 1938, in St. James Hospital in Butte, to John Patrick Kelly and Florence Elizabeth (Cunningham) Kelly.   Her father was an editor with The Butte Daily Post and The Montana Standard and owned the Clifford Bar before it burned in the 1954 Butte Hotel fire.   Sharon attended McKinley Elementary School and Butte High School.

      She attended Montana State College in Bozeman where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and participated in numerous activities and honoraries including Spurs, Concert Chorus, Madrigals and Mortar Board.   She received a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from MSC in 1961.

      From 1961 through 1998, Sharon worked at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center as a medical technician and laboratory planning consultant.   She sang in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.

      She moved to Bozeman in 1998 where she served as a Museum of the Rockies docent and worked at the Bozeman Deaconess Hospital Gift Shop.

      Sharon traveled extensively and explored numerous recreational and educational interests, including scuba diving and painting.

      She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Mary Katherine Kelly.

      She is survived by her brothers, James Michael Kelly of San Francisco and John Patrick Kelly of Farmington, N.M., and nieces, Ursula, Lorelei and Robin and their children.

      Memorial donations can be made to Bozeman and Butte animal shelters.

      A celebration of Sharon’s life will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at 47 Hitching Post Road in Bozeman.