Sharon Craft Moore

Sharon Dorothye Craft Moore was a faithful servant of the Lord, and she excelled in her roles as a daughter, sister, cousin, wife, mother, godmother, grandmother, proud Black woman, Delta soror, best friend, an influencer, an encourager, a games enthusiast (especially Scrabble and word games), a gospel and Christian music lover who both sang and played the piano, and an author of her life story, “A Determined Spirit.”  Sharon was action-oriented, preferring to do the will of God and let others see, feel, and experience the Word through her as she allowed the Holy Spirit to come alive in her everyday actions and interactions.  She loved engaging with her family, friends, and others she met on her journey.  Sharon embodied Proverbs 31:25: “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” Her life verse was Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  And that she did.

God presented Sharon to Dorothye and Silas E. Craft, Sr. on September 19, 1954, and God brought Sharon to her heavenly home on January 7, 2021.  She was the youngest of six children in a close-knit family.  Sharon came to be known for her big smile and caring ways.  Her unshakeable faith in God began as a child when she gave her life to Christ at the First Baptist Church of Guilford. That relationship grew to become her joy in living for the rest of her years and sustained her, even through many years of adversity, as she was rooted in God’s Word.

Sharon graduated from Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland.  She then pursued her undergraduate degree from what is now Morgan State University, graduating summa cum laude in 1976 with a B.S. in psychology.  While there, she pledged Delta Sigma Theta and joined the lifetime sisterhood.  That same year she began dating John R. Moore, who would later become her husband, thanks to her sister who introduced them while also studying at Columbia!  Sharon and John enjoyed exercising, bowling, and traveling during their courtship.  During that time Sharon, while working, went back to school for business. 

Sharon married John on June 6, 1981; they established their home in Washington, D.C. There were many defining moments in Sharon’s life, but one such moment was being officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1982 after first experiencing symptoms in March 1981.  Nevertheless, they persisted in faith and love.  John was truly Sharon’s helpmate until he left this Earth in 2017.  Sharon’s entrepreneurial spirit led her to open a business—Balloon Creations—shortly after getting married.  Later they would become the proud parents of Stacey Renée in 1983 and Ashley Revée in 1985. 

Over the years Sharon began to experience increasing, debilitating challenges with mobility and vision due to MS, but she handled the physical changes with grace and grit.  Progressing from playing tennis to walking with a cane, then a walker, and finally a wheelchair, she remained positive through it all.  In 1995, Sharon published her autobiography titled “A Determined Spirit… One Woman’s Victory in Catastrophic Illness.”  Her Determined Spirit endured with MS and health issues for nearly 40 years.

Music often sustained Sharon, helping her to get through those tough times.  One of her favorite testimony-giving songs is entitled, “If I Can Help Somebody.”  The words state “If I can help somebody . . .[then] my living shall not be in vain.”  She exemplified a life well-lived that found joy in helping and ministering to others, even in the midst of physical hardship.  Her home of nearly 20 years allowed her to have freedom of movement in its living space.  John made it possible that her world could come to her and be in God’s presence in the spirit of love and joy. Oh, so many games nights (and early mornings), celebrations, and Bible studies were held, surrounding Sharon with the people she loved and who loved her in the place she said was “His [God’s] house.”  Sharon gave more than she often received, and lived, loved, and laughed well. 

Unquestionably, Sharon’s daughters and three grandsons were her pride and joy.  She even came to call Taurean, Stacey’s husband, her “son-in-love.”  Sharon documented her offspring’s every success and adventures.  This gave her life new meaning and purpose every day.

While Sharon stopped going to an office when her kids were young due to physical challenges in the workplace, her giving and doing never waned.  Over the nearly four decades Sharon lived with MS, most of it as a homemaker-turned-author, she did not let MS define her.  Sharon was always busy doing other things at home, church, the kids’ schools, and in the community.  Sharon also supported charitable causes.  Her Rose of Sharon Team supporters, of the MS Walk and Bike MS, amassed over $76,000 in donations for the National MS Society in the past 13 years to help improve services and treatment for MS.

Sharon was preceded in death by her husband, John R. Moore, and father, Silas E. Craft, Sr.  She leaves to cherish her memory her daughters, Stacey Moore Buchanan (Taurean) and Ashley R. Moore; grandsons, Braden, Tanner, and Harper Buchanan; her mother Dorothye M. Craft; her siblings Rebecca Felder, Silas Craft, Jr., Virginia Lee, Dwight Craft, Kaye Craft, and Carmen Reid; and a host of godchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Sharon’s final, albeit unexpected, good-bye was made in a glow of radiant light, the smiling face stilled, and her lips poised saying “Hallelujah” (the highest praise)!

We are called to honor Sharon’s memory by finding a way to let our little lights shine brightly in the world and to share the good news.

She has run her race. She has kept the faith. And now she is receiving her crown with “well done, good and faithful servant!”

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Sharon's honor to the MS Society https://mssociety.donordrive.com/campaign/SharonCraftMooreMemorial

and/or the Silas Craft Collegians Program at Howard Community College.