Sharlie A. Guthrie

Sharlie Guthrie, of Waco, peacefully passed away Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at Ascension Providence Hospital with her daughters, Allison and Merrill, at her side.

The funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, October 28, at The Church of the Holy Spirit with The Rev. Jason Ingalls and The Rev. John Wells co-officiating. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. After the burial ceremony at Oakwood, you are cordially invited to join us for a Celebration of Life at Tru Jamaica Restaurant at 3:00 p.m. We could think of no better way to honor our mother than to toast her in a Caribbean restaurant with palm trees and Reggae music!

Sharlie Ann Luna was born in Dallas on New Year’s Day in 1933 to Charles and Opal Luna. She attended Woodrow Wilson High in Dallas, graduated with a degree in education from the University of North Texas, and soon began her short teaching career at Casa Linda Elementary in Dallas. She turned down a few proposals and always joked about being an “old maid school teacher” before meeting Larry on a blind date and marrying him in 1958. Theirs was a storybook romance- and they were married for sixty wonderful years.

She was a perfect wife for Larry and, together, they lived life to the fullest. They loved music, especially Reggae, and were great dancers. Their favorite places to travel were to Sausalito or to anywhere there was a beach- especially the Turks and Caicos (even before the rest of the world discovered these islands). Sharlie was the unofficial travel agent to so many.

To say Sharlie Guthrie, also known as Sharlie Pearl, Carlotta, and Gigi, was a colorful character is an understatement. She was vivacious, witty, and festive. You could not miss her trademark red hair, huge smile, tropical dresses, fish-inspired jewelry, and perfectly pedicured coral toes in her matching Bernardo sandals.

Her life was full of great friends and great times. There were always the sounds of joyful laughter, barking terriers, the stereo blasting The Tijuana Brass, UB40, or Tina Turner as the soundtrack of her life on North Ridge.

The dream house Sharlie and Larry designed and planned together was a tribute to their love of beaches, sea life, and entertaining…. And so much an extension of Sharlie herself. The tropical pool area with its palm trees, bougainvillea, and hibiscus were reminiscent of the many island resorts they visited and it was a source of great pride to Sharlie— even once featured in a national magazine. Sharlie was a consummate hostess and there were many, many legendary parties at the house with lake views from nearly every room.

She really knew no strangers and had friends around the world. She wrote thousands of letters with her special calligraphy pens and many a friend asked her to address their wedding and party invitations.

Sharlie was a charter member of Zeta Tau Alpha at The University of North Texas. And In Waco, she helped charter the Zeta chapter at Baylor and loved every minute of it! She was also a volunteer at Providence Hospital for many, many years. (As we were growing up it seemed she was always wearing that pink smock!) She co-chaired the Art Auction for the Waco Art Center, she and Larry were very active in supporting the Cameron Park Zoo, The Church of the Holy Spirit, and sponsored children through several organizations.

A passion later in life was photography. Her favorite subjects were beaches, flowers, and animals. She really loved giving away her photos as gifts, and so many friends have wonderful Sharlie photos. Her claim to fame was a fantastic photo she took of her 5 year old grandson, Cole, at the Cameron Park Zoo with a young lion in the background. The zoo used the photo for a billboard on I-35 for many years. She also had some of her Bora Bora photos used on album covers.

But…her biggest passion… the most important passion she had - were her grandsons. She loved being Gigi!! She was so very proud of Cole, Grant and Ryan and was completely in heaven when she was around them. Some of the fondest memories of Sharlie are island vacations with the whole family or the special family holidays spent in Waco. She always dazzled us all at Christmas with the huge tree, extensive decorations, and her famous Christmas Eve meatballs!

She had a great sense of humor and also was very good sport. She truly enjoyed laughing - even at her own expense – her daughters loved playing jokes on her and she easily forgave things like when they showed up to the Brazos Club for dinner wearing costumes (and it was not Halloween) continually signing her up for truck driving school, or trying to embarrass her on family vacations.

She loved animals- especially the long line of Cairn Terriers that were always a part of the Guthrie home. There were all kinds of family pets around – and she loved all of them- even Toodles, the cockatoo, who routinely chewed up the wood trim in her house. Maybe she gave him a pass because he was so tropical and gorgeous and happened to be one of her favorite colors—Coral! …..Which brings us to this:

The family requests that those attending the service, burial, and Celebration of her Life wear coral, turquoise, or something tropical in honor of Sharlie.

She was preceded in death by parents, Charles and Opal Luna; husband, Larry Guthrie; brother, Dan Luna; and twin sons, Kirk and Kevin.

She is survived by daughters, Allison Guthrie and partner, Susan Bailes of Denton and Merrill Swenke and husband, Kevin of Dallas; three treasured grandsons, Cole Swenke of Dallas, Grant Swenke of Dallas and Ryan Swenke of Dallas; sister-in-law, Therese Luna of Bedford; nephew, Dan Luna of Dallas and nephew, Charles Luna of Bedford; brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Janice Knapp of Waco; niece Kelly Branch of Waco; and nephew, Steve Branch of Amarillo.

In lieu of flowers, Donations can be made to the Cameron Park Zoological and Botanical Society, The Episcopal Church of Holy Spirit, or a charity of your choice. If you would prefer to send flowers, of course she loved tropicals!

The family would like to thank all the wonderful caregivers from Visiting Angels who have cared for our mother for over four years- especially Irene, Donna, Brenda, Sherell, and Andrea. And profound thanks to our male angels, Clint and Mark, who have helped us maintain the house so we could keep her at home. Also, we want to thank the compassionate nurses in ICU at her beloved Providence Hospital. In addition, we have been so very blessed to have had family friend and chaplain, Brenda Boswell, right by our side at the end of both of our parent’s lives.

Many of you will remember Larry’s traditional announcement upon trying to leave a party with her: “Say Goodnight, Sharlie”. It is a decades-long running joke. (A nod to George Burn’s catchphrase for those too young to get it) Bless Larry’s heart.. She never wanted to leave.

But now she is finally with Larry and with the “Friday night gang” and with so many of her friends and family. We will dearly miss you, our precious mother, grandmother, aunt, and treasured friend. Now… it’s okay to “Say Goodnight, Sharlie”.