Sharon Rae (Schoenfeld) Griffiths

Sharon Rae (Schoenfeld) Griffiths passed away peacefully in her sleep early in the morning on August 8, 2023.

She was born on June 24, 1937, in Salt Lake City to Victor Pardoe Schoenfeld and Mildred Luella (Winterowd) Schoenfeld. She was the oldest sister to three younger siblings, Ross, Janet, and Paul. They grew up in the heart of Sugar House, her childhood years filled with canyon picnics, time spent with her grandparents, and trips to the railroad depot where her father worked to see the trains and engines. At the age of ten, she met a boy who would go on to be the greatest love of her life—but we’ll get to that.

As a teenager her days were spent in hoop skirts and Jantzen sweaters, reading Nancy Drew, and going to church on Sundays. She would walk to South High with her friends and rarely got in trouble unless she was teasing her siblings, usually Ross.

In 1954, at seventeen years old, she began dating the boy she’d known since childhood—Ronald William Griffiths. The two fell in love quickly, and her favorite nights were those spent together at the Great Saltair or Lagoon where they would dance the night away listening to the great Big Bands. After four years, he gave her a ring on her birthday and the two were married on August 27, 1959, at Skaggs Memorial Chapel.
A talented typist, she helped put Ron through college working as a secretary at IML Freight Line Trucking Company, where she spent twenty-eight years of her career before retiring as a secretary from the U of U Hospital. She loved to quilt, and she made beautiful family heirloom cross-stitch pictures. She was also an avid snow skier and loved house boating and riding her jet skis on Lake Powell.

Sharon and Ron welcomed their first child, Gregg Griffiths, into the world on June 29, 1963, and their second child, Dana Rae (Griffiths) Adams on June 24, 1966. The four of them shared many adventures together including snow skiing, water skiing, river rafting, and camping. She loved the water and was notorious for starting water fights any time she had the chance. She was also well known by her friends and family for her love of bonfires when camping. They called them Sharon Fires. They were big.

She continued to pass on these passions and share in these adventures with her grandchildren, Jeremy Griffiths, Jesika (Griffiths) Bond, Jadie (Adams) Stonacek, and Shaela Adams, whom she dearly loved and adored. (And they adored her.) Sunday nights were a family favorite, as every week she would cook the entire family a delicious dinner just for the chance to bring us all together.

Later in life, Sharon and Ron spent their winters in Beaver Dam, Arizona where they loved to go four-wheeling, and their summers in Star Valley, Wyoming. Many of these adventures were spent with their life-long friends, aptly named the Rat Pac.
In her final years, she was thrilled to meet her four great-grandsons and spend time with her growing family whenever she could.
She will be profoundly missed. Her life and love have touched many.

She is survived by her son Gregg William Griffiths, wife Svetlana Griffiths, daughter Dana Rae Adams, husband John Adams, her five grandchildren, Jeremy Griffiths (Ashley), Jesika Bond (Maxwell), Jadie Stonacek (Ray), Shaela Adams, and Patrisha Schoenbacher, and four great-grandsons Griffin Bond, Grantley Bond, Grover Bond, and Van Griffiths. Sharon is preceded in death by her loving husband, Ronald William Griffiths whom she married on August 27, 1959

Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 12, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 E. Dimple Dell Road (10600 S.) Sandy, UT, 84092. Friends may call Friday, August 11th from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. for a viewing or from 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. before the services on Saturday.