Sharon Hunter Tar, 72, formerly of Vero Beach, passed away on Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, in Annandale, Va., after a courageous battle with cancer. She was an 11 year breast cancer survivor and succumbed to the effects of Myelodysplastic Syndrome
She was surrounded by her family and her beloved Pomeranian, Madison Mae.
She is survived by her father Edwin Hunter and his wife Nancy Coccia; sisters Mary Ellen Sauers, and Beverly Moser; daughter, Karla Klussendorf (David Walton); grandsons David and John; son Arthur “Bud” Klussendorf (Kathleen Klussendorf); her 103-year-old aunt Nathalie Menshausen of Warrensburg; many cousins; and her former husband and father of her children.
She was predeceased by her husband, Richard Tar, and her mother, Ann (Lewis) Hunter.
Tar was born at the Glens Falls Hospital in New York on Jan. 23, 1942. She was the only child of Edwin Hunter and the late Ann (Lewis) Hunter, and grew up in Warrensburg, N.Y.
She graduated from the Warrensburg Central School in 1960 and from Adirondack Community College in 1969 when her children were very young. Subsequently, she began her career in real estate in the early 1970s with Najer Realty and later with Rondack Realty. She was the Warrensburg Sole Assessor from 1977 through 1981.
In 1981, Tar continued her career by working as a Right of Way Aide for the New York State Department of Transportation when there were fewer than 40 professional women at the Main DOT Office.
While working full-time she earned her Bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y. in 1991. She retired as the Regional Real Estate Officer of the New York City Department of Transportation office. She loved her job and thoroughly enjoyed living in the city.
On May, 22, 1998, she married Richard Tar at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City and they were together until his death in 2011.
In retirement, she enjoyed quilting, knitting and gardening and divided her time between Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and Vero Beach. She traveled extensively and particularly enjoyed adventures with her grandsons such as a barefoot cruise in the Caribbean, a white water rafting trip on the Snake River, cruising in Alaska, and seeing the sites in England and Scotland.
In September 2013 she traveled on a church sponsored trip to South Africa supporting a local orphanage and seeing the sites.
After the death of her husband, she moved to Stuart and lived on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River. She traveled extensively with her friend Bob Cross on his Nordic Tug, “At Last” fulfilling a dream to live on a boat.
Tar was a member of the Malta Presbyterian Church and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach. She enjoyed being a member of the Hudson River Piecemakers Quilting Guild and spending time teaching her friends to quilt.
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider giving donations in memory of Sharon to the First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach Building Fund, 520 Royal Palm Boulevard, Vero Beach, FL, 32960.
Memorial services will be held in Vero Beach and Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in the fall.
