Susan Carol Sharp of Braintree, VT, passed away 2 September, 2025 after 4 years of treatment for lung cancer. Susan was born April 12, 1950 in Newark, NJ to Charles Ellis Sharp and Doreen Appenzeller Sharp. She received a BS in Medical Technology at University of Vermont and worked at various hospital laboratories, culminating in directorship of the Coagulation Research and Reference Lab at Georgetown University Hospital while also completing a Master’s Degree in Biology at Georgetown University. Medical school was her next career choice, receiving her M.D. from the University of Vermont School of Medicine in 1987. She completed residency in Pathology at University of California at San Diego, and then worked at Bellevue Women’s Hospital, Schenectady, NY for many years, and finished her career in pathology at UVM. She married her classmate, John Koella, M.D., May 21, 1988. They lived in Oceanside, CA and Quantico, VA while John finished his Navy commitment. Strong, organized, and hardworking, Sue was able to raise her children Emily and Ryan by herself while continuing Pathology residency when John was deployed for a year to the Persian Gulf. She and John settled in Saratoga Springs, NY, where they raised their children. Sue enjoyed reading, gardening, knitting, travel, architecture, and renovating houses. Her most challenging and meaningful restoration is the John Duncan Farmhouse in Vernon Township, Michigan, built by John’s great grandfather John Duncan and great great grandfather James Duncan. Sue is survived by her husband John Koella; daughter Emily Koella, her husband Nabil Nasseri, and their children Emerson Aazami Koella-Nasseri and Aurora Glee Koella-Nasseri; son Ryan Koella, his wife Alexandra Lima, and their daughter Ruth Lima Koella; and her brother Donald Sharp and his wife Sherry Sharp. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends and her three year old Aussiedoodle Elsie. Sue ably juggled a demanding career in medicine with loving motherhood and caregiving of her elderly parents at a time when this was not commonplace. She was a role model for younger professional women with similar aspirations. A memorial service to celebrate Sue’s life will be held at the Braintree Meeting House Sunday, 7 September, at 1p.m.,viewing hours will be 11 a.m.-1p.m. at the Meeting House. There will be a reception after the service at the meeting house. Burial will be at the Vermont Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Randolph Center on a future date. In lieu of flowers donations in Sue’s name can be made to The Braintree Meeting House (where Emily was married), c/o The Braintree Historical Society, 273 Woodchuck Hollow Road, West Braintree, VT, 05669, and/or The Bethel Lympus Church (where Sue and John were married), 137 Pleasant St., Bethel, VT, 05032.
Author: gqlshare
https://www.themorningsun.com/obituaries/susan-sharp-braintree-vt/