Sharon S. McBride
Sharon Sue McBride, as kind and generous a person as anyone could ever hope to meet, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2024, at Sarah House Hospice in Santa Barbara.
Born in Houston on October 23, 1947, Sharon came from a family of Country Western Musicians. Her grandfather, Tex Owens, wrote the classic ‘Cattle Call’, which became the theme song for Eddy Arnold, and has been recorded by many other well-known western stars. Sharon’s great aunt and uncle, Texas Ruby and Curly Fox, appeared regularly at the Grand Ole Opry. Sharon’s mother, Laura Lee McBride, a Hall a Fame performer, was known as the ‘Queen of Western Swing’ and was the first female vocalist with the legendary band, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.
Sharon grew up on her family’s ranch near the little town of Franklin Texas after graduating a valedictorian at her high school, Sharon moved to Dallas where she worked as a secretary at Kera, a PBS affiliated TV station. She then moved to San Diego where she got a job at the UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Starting as a receptionist she soon became a valued administrative assistant and continued to work there for more than twelve years.
Despite her family background, Sharon never pursued a career in music. She did, in fact, have a lovely voice and made a limited-edition CD on which she accompanied herself on guitar, singing songs she’d written about stories in her life. However, the real focus of her artistic endeavors lay elsewhere. An accomplished self-taught painter and sculptor, Sharon moved to Santa Barbara in 1999 and became a long-time member of both the SB and Goleta Art Associations. She went on to win numerous awards for her work at a variety of Art Show Venues.
Sharon loved to walk along the seashore and over many years collected a wide array of sea glass shells and driftwood. At first she used these found objects to create clever ‘beachery’ sculptures which she called ‘hangy thyngs’, and happily distributed them to family and friends. Eventually Sharon began to fashion her materials into exquisite 3D sea glass fish. After several years her ‘school’ grew to number thirty-three.
Sharon took photos of all her artwork. These were then featured as cover pictures on a multitude of handmade greeting cards which she delighted in sending to family and friends. These cards, themselves, have now become collector’s items for many of the people who knew and loved her.
Sharon is survived by her loving husband Joe Loebman and by her cousins Loretta Neal Spansail of Morro Bay, Ron Bracken of Meridian Idaho, Carol Dee Neal Miller of Redding, Linda Neal of Santa Barbara, Ginger Howe of Carpinteria, Wanda Rosenberger of Camarillo, Bruce and Tami Neal of Central City Iowa and Minnie Neal of Santa Barbara
Sharon’s family would like to thank the wonderful doctors and staff at Cottage Hospital, Ridley Tree Cancer Center and Sarah House for the superb tender loving care they gave Sharon during her illness. Those wishing to remember Sharon might consider contributing in her name to any of these excellent non-profit institutions.