Sharon Nadine Dickerson’s life embodied a deep personal story. Born in Martinsville, Virginia, and adopted in Manhattan, New York, Sharon’s childhood began in Spanish Harlem, where her early years were shaped by a rich and vibrant culture. Ballet, tap dance, and jazz were all signature pastimes of Sharon’s when she was a little girl. As a teenager, she loved going to the drive-in, disco roller skating, and ice skating.

Sharon’s parents, Freddie and Robbie Fagan, moved the family to Westbury, Long Island, New York, where she had her first son, George Fagan, in 1968. As a young single mother, Sharon learned to value the gravity of responsibility while not losing sight of the human spirit’s need for joy and laughter. She was known for making people laugh. She was also a beauty queen, adorning herself in the latest designer outfits, even gaining the title “La Fashionista”!

Sharon’s family extended well beyond the Northeast, with roots as far south as Florida, where she spent summers in Key West with her grandmother, Marvel, and great-aunt, Lena. Her stories of Florida revealed a special joy she found there, but she remained a New Yorker at heart. Graduating from Westbury High School in 1972, Sharon continued her college education at Interboro Institute, where she studied Court Reporting. The love of a genuine family captured Sharon’s heart, and at age 21, she married and had her second son, Shaun Linning, in 1977. She then moved with her two sons to Baltimore, Maryland.

Following a career opportunity with Northrop Grumman’s administrative staff, Sharon returned to New York, where she met and married Ira Dickerson in 1987 and gave birth to their daughter, Iris Park. This marked the beginning of a 36-year-long union upon which Sharon built a household and offered the best of herself as a wife and mother, giving birth to a third son, Chance Dickerson, in 1989 after moving to Manassas, VA, and a fourth son, Hunter Dickerson, in 1992 in Albemarle County, Virginia, where the family settled long-term.

Cultivating a modest legacy in the Charlottesville and Albemarle, Sharon was very active in her community. She served as a Substitute Teacher at Stone-Robinson Elementary School, was a member of the PTO, and a familiar face on multiple planning committees. Following her passion for administrative duties, Sharon worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Cardiology Department in the UVA Health System, where she retired in 2020. Her later years were devoted to spending time with her grandchildren, attending their sports events and dance recitals. Her unwavering love and advocacy for her children undoubtedly signify Sharon’s character.

Sharon was preceded in death by her Father Freddie Fagan and Mother George Robbie Fagan, her mother and father in law Lorenza Horace Dickerson and Ann Dickerson and her brother and sister in law Lorenza Warren Dickerson and Marcella “Pat” Dickerson. Sharon leaves to cherish her mother from Martinsville VA, Ora Hightower. Husband of 36 years, Ira Dickerson, and five children, George Fagan (Christine), and her granddaughter Allie Fagan and great grandson Avery Fagan Correa, her grandson Niko Fagan (Madeline); Shaun Linning; Iris Dickerson Park (Joseph), and her grandson Liam Park and granddaughter Nora Ann Park; Chance Dickerson (Suphatsara), and her granddaughters Ava Dickerson and Emma Dickerson; Hunter Dickerson; five sisters, Sylvia Williams, Cynthia Fagan, Lois Fountain, Margaret Moore, Janet Deshazo; two brothers brothers, Bryan Hightower and Charlie Hightower; sister in law Linda Dickerson; and a host of loving aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

For more on services and to offer condolences please contact J. F. Bell Funeral Home