Fellowship Square Says Goodbye to Beloved Board Member Sharon Kay Johnson-Shannon

It is with heavy hearts that the Fellowship Square staff shares the news of board member Sharon Kay Johnson-Shannon’s passing. Sharon, a board member with Christian Care for more than 30 years, left earth peacefully on December 24 in Mesa, Arizona. Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 4 at Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Cemetery. 

Sharon was born in Emporia, Kansas in 1941. The day after she graduated from Emporia High School in 1959, she went on to radiology school in Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka. In 1961, she and her husband Jerry Johnson, whom she met in radiology school, moved to Flagstaff, Arizona. Sharon and Jerry have two daughters — Cynthia and Rebecca. During their time in Flagstaff, Sharon flew on a small plane to the Navajo Indian Reservation with a doctor to perform X-rays on Native Americans.

After a short time in Flagstaff, the Johnsons moved to Chandler, and Sharon began working as an X-ray technician for a hospital in Mesa, Arizona. At the age of 27, she became the youngest female Radiology Director in the state of Arizona and possibly even the whole United States. During her role as a radiology director, she continued her studies at Yale University. She also wrote a book on radiology and productivity, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal regarding on radiology use in the United States.

Her career in radiology led her all over the world including Israel, Japan, Holland, and Australia, where she traveled to view and purchase millions of dollars in radiology equipment. She has led large radiology seminars across the country and has been a guest speaker at seminars with thousands of guests in attendance. At one of these seminars, she met and spoke with President Ford and Speaker of the House Tip O'Neal. She served as radiology director for two large local hospitals in the valley for more than 41 years, and upon her retirement in 2003 she was approached to continue working as a director in other states. She settled on working in the Oakland and Berkeley, California area, where her directorship was then expanded to include five major hospitals — three in Oakland and two in Berkeley. 

After a 51-year career, she finally officially retired in 2013. Her position on the Board of Directors of Christian Care was a great honor to her, and the board and all of Fellowship Square and Christian Care will miss her greatly. 

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sharon Shannon Memorial via Fellowship Square Mesa (6945 E. Main St Mesa, Arizona 85207) to the have been requested. All donations will go to help the memory care unit that Sharon was being cared for. Services begin Saturday, January 4 with visitation from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., funeral service from 11:00 a.m. to noon, and graveside service following from noon to 1:00 p.m.