Sharon V. Apking

Sharon Vey Anderson was born to E. Jerome & Blanche (Lapcheska) Anderson in Edinburg, Texas on July 14, 1934.  Her parents divorced when she was two and she came to Nebraska with her mother. Until she was four, she lived with her aunt and uncle, Pearl and Mervil Elward, on a farm near Strang.  At that time her mother married Everett Willert, then superintendent of schools in Bruning. The family later moved to Potter, in the Nebraska panhandle, and eventually to Wayne at the beginning of her junior year in high school.  She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bruning and confirmed at First Lutheran Church in Potter.  At the time of her death she was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Daykin.

She attended Wayne State, Indiana University and the University of Nebraska where she met William Tappan Apking.  They were married on July 3, 1958.  In December of that year, they moved to Alexandria where Bill was needed to help in the family bank.  Bill and Shari welcomed two much-loved children, David Tappan and Elizabeth Ann.  Bill died of a heart attack in 1992 while on a trip to Egypt for the Alexandria World Festival.

The Republican Party was a major component in their lives, and one or the other was on the GOP State Central Committee for more than fifty years.  In 1981 Shari was appointed to complete a term in the Legislature.  Following her stint there, she worked for the state in a number of appointive capacities, and also as a lobbyist/consultant for rural K-12 schools and economic development.  In addition, she wrote speeches, technical brochures, and a personal column for local papers.  The column appeared weekly for thirty-five years.  She was a member of numerous local and state boards during her lifetime.  In 1979 all four members of the family were made Admirals of the Great Nebraska Navy.

Shari began violin lessons at an early age, and played many solos as well as with symphony orchestras until she damaged a nerve in her left hand.  She was an organist at St. John Lutheran for many years.

Survivors include her children, David (Vonda) and Betsy, grandchildren Hillari, Abigail, Madelyn and Mason, great-grandchildren Lydia Vey and Bennett James, Sisters Colleen Dilley and Holly Willert, three nieces, four nephews, and their families, and several cousins.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, step-father, in-laws George and Ruth Apking, sister-in-law Elinor Apking Dill and brother-in-law Roger Dilley.

Services will be Saturday, June 1, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Daykin.  Memorials have been established to the Nebraska Children's Home Society and St John's Lutheran Church. Burial in the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery - Daykin.