Sharon Stamp passed away after a long battle with cancer on July 4th, 2022. She was surrounded by family and the fireworks were bursting in the sky to light her way home.

Sharon Marie Nelson was born on April 19th, 1938 in Los Angeles, CA to Harold and Edith Nelson (Robinson). The oldest of 8 siblings, she attended school in Medicine Lake, MT and was very proud to be a Honker. After graduating in 1956, she continued her education at Eastern Montana College in Billings where she worked toward her teaching certificate.

In 1957 she met Melvin Stamp while he was working in Medicine Lake. Sharon was out with friends one day when she saw “a dirty boy with a hot car.” Melvin has said before that she only liked him for his car, but once she saw it she was hooked. He asked her on a date and she accepted, the only problem was he couldn’t find her house so she thought he stood her up! Eventually, they did go on that date and they must have had more in common than the car, because on October 4, 1958 they were married at the Nathanael Church in Dagmar, MT. Mel worked as a ‘doodlebugger’ for Amerada Petroleum which kept them busy and moving around often. Together they moved 42 times in 11 years, from Northern Montana all the way to the Mexico Border. During a conversation we once had, Mel referred to this, as the time when they traveled the world. Sharon corrected him, saying “Ha, you mean the United States.” Melvin replied, “It was our world.”

Sharon wore many hats in her lifetime from working on the family farm and helping Mel run his seismic drilling company to running the Courthouse Café, serving meals to the inmates of the Williams County Jail. She managed the Coyote Lanes bowling alley and as the Junior Bowling Coach, she took many kids to numerous tournaments across the state. She encouraged a love of bowling in her community as well as her family. She was on the State Board of the Junior bowling association, was the secretary of the Williston Bowling Association for many years and was even inducted into Williston’s Bowling Hall of Fame.

However, her favorite job was being a wonderful Mom and Gran to all her kids even if those kids weren’t biologically hers. She always had an open-door policy. When her children were young, all the neighborhood kids all knew they were welcome at the Stamp home. Years after her kids were grown up, when her granddaughter Kayla lived with them, she opened the house to many touring bands letting them sleep on any spare bed, couch, or bit of floor they had, and even letting some join them for Easter supper.

We know that Sharon is enveloped in love by her parents Harold and Edith Nelson, and Harold’s second wife Elice, her sister Ellen Mann, her daughter Jenny, and many other close friends and family members that passed on before her and were waiting to greet her on the other side.

She is survived by her husband Melvin, children Mike (Karen), Mark, Edee (Bryon) Hendrickson, her “adopted daughter” Cindy Morales, grandchildren Kayla Stamp, Shauni (Derek) Hellegaard, Daniel (LaTosha) Hendrickson, Charlotte (Ben) Pettit, Ian Babbitt, Seth Babbitt, Boaz Stamp, two great-grandchildren Isaac Hendrickson and Avni Carns, as well as her brothers and sisters Roger (Linda) Nelson, Karen (George) Fisher, Cloe Nelson, Linda (Charlie) Tanner, Marlene (Dan) Rogers, and David (Gail) Nelson, she is also survived by her close friend of 63 years (to the day) Suzie Erickson, along with many cousins, nieces, nephews and dear friends.