Sharron Lea Hoff Stewart October 18, 1938 – July 17, 2024 Sharron Lea Hoff Stewart was born on October 18, 1938, in Tacoma, Washington, to Muriel and Earl J. Hoff. She passed away on July 17, 2024.
In 1946, Sharron’s father was transferred by his employer, Graybar Electric Company, from Tacoma to Butte, Montana. Shortly thereafter, Sharron was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and confined to bed for an extended period. During this time, her parents discovered Sharron’ s gift for art.
Her drawings, watercolors, and paintings quickly covered the walls of her Butte bedroom. Due to her illness, Sharron’s doctors eventually recommended she move to a warmer climate. Her father explained the situation to his employer and though it was doubted by Earl Hoff that his services were actually needed in Dallas, Texas, Graybar Electric graciously transferred Sharron and family from the cold of Butte, Montana to the warmth of Dallas.
Once settled in Dallas, Sharron’s health improved rapidly. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1957 and attended Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University, earning an art degree in 1961. After graduation, she taught art in junior high schools in Fort Worth from 1961 until 1964.
In 1963, a pal from her SMU days insisted Sharron meet a friend of hers, who was attending law school at The University of Texas. This law-student friend was Vaughan O’Neal Stewart. Their first date, arranged during the Christmas holidays in 1963, sparked a long-distance romance that led to their marriage on March 27, 1964.
After marriage, Sharron and Vaughan moved to Austin and lived in an apartment at 34th and Red River Streets, just two blocks from Texas Memorial Stadium, where they watched the Longhorns play football. Sharron secured a coveted job teaching art in an Austin intermediate school while Vaughan finished law school. Vaughan graduated from law school in May 1965 and he accepted a position with a trial law firm in the East Texas town of Henderson, attractive to him because he had grown up in nearby Kilgore.
Despite their love for Austin –Darrell Royal, the Longhorns, Scholz Biergarten, and everything else they cherished about the city— the young couple decided to relocate. In Henderson, Sharron taught art in the local school district while her husband worked for a successful trial law firm. However, they were not enchanted with Henderson or the thought of raising children there.
In March 1968, Sharron, Vaughan and their two young children moved to Lake Jackson. Once settled in Lake Jackson, Vaughan hung out his solo-practice lawyer shingle; and Sharron briefly worked for Brazosport Independent School District as an art advisor to teachers at several local grade schools. The first group Sharron befriended was The Little Theater of Brazosport.
Though never an actress, she spent many hours painting the backdrops for several productions. Many of the Little Theater group remained lifelong friends. Sharron was always willing to lend her artistic skills to help her children, whether it was designing her son’s Cub Scout float for the Brazoria County Fair, drawing for a school project, or applying her daughters’ stage makeup for their ballet performances.
She also spent countless hours at the Freeport docks painting vessels of all sorts. There, she had the good fortune to befriend Don Hudson who was undoubtedly the best artist in all of Brazoria County at the time. Sharron learned much from Don that she had never encountered during her studies at SMU or TCU.
Those familiar with Sharron’s artistic skills were surprised when, around 1970, she put away her art supplies and turned her interest elsewhere. Both she and one of her daughters were experiencing persistent respiratory disorders that did not respond to any treatment. As an avid reader, Sharron began investigating air pollution as a possible cause.
She contacted groups that published scientific articles on health problems likely caused by exposure to environmental toxins that had been dumped into the air and water. By 1971 Sharron had become a dedicated environmentalist. She joined myriad organizations dedicated to environmental protection, including the preservation of trees, understanding the causes of pollution in lakes, rivers, and the air, and how to clean it up.
By 1976, Sharron had become so well educated on environmental issues that President Jimmy Carter appointed her to The National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. NACOA met monthly in Washington, D.C.
where members shared their experiences with their local environments, and to be educated by Naval Experts on ocean incineration and the damage it was causing because of the oceans’ inability to biodegrade toxins. This wonderful experience at the federal level further fueled Sharron’s passion for protecting and preserving her beloved Brazoria County and its bottomlands, rivers, wetlands, reefs, and Gulf of Mexico coastline. For over 54 years, Sharron worked tirelessly on issues that included wetlands protection, preservation of the Columbia Bottomlands, beach access, clean air, oil spill prevention and response, debris cleanup, and public beach access.
She was a founding member of the Texas Environmental Coalition and worked closely with state legislators to shape environmental legislative policy. Her expertise on coastal issues made her a respected voice in both grassroots organizing and in high-level policymaking. Known for her tenacity and deep knowledge of complex environmental regulations, Sharron took on battles against ocean incineration of hazardous waste and inappropriate development in fragile coastal areas.
She was instrumental in organizing the first coordinated beach cleanup efforts along the Texas coast, which became a model for similar programs nationwide. Sharron found solace and inspiration in the natural beauty of the Texas coast, particularly enjoying time spent on the beaches near Freeport and in long walks in the Columbia Bottomlands. Her passion for protecting these special places drove her tireless advocacy work over many decades.
Among her many environmental endeavors, Sharron devoted most of her efforts to the creation and work of the Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF), an environmental protection organization comprising individual members as well as corporations that owned and operated industrial plants throughout an area stretching from the Houston Ship Channel to the Gulf of Mexico. Sharron was one of the original 40 incorporators of the Galveston Bay Foundation in 1987. She was the longest serving board member, having served 29 years.
She was also chair of GBF’s wetland permit review committee for the two decades of its existence. In addition to the Galveston Bay Foundation, Sharron was instrumental in the creation of the Galveston Bay Estuary Program, a governmental entity with which GBF still collaborates today. Sharron was part of a group of advocates who traveled to Washington, D.
C. and advocated for its creation in 1988. She also served on the Galveston Bay Council, the advisory board for the Estuary Program for over two decades.
Sharron was in all things Galveston Bay. And GBF and citizens living along the Ship Channel from Houston to the Gulf are better off for it. When it became time for Sharron to reduce the many hours devoted to GBF, she took “Emeritus Status” and gradually turned the work over to the younger members.
In her honor, The Galveston Bay Foundation gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Though she retired from the more arduous tasks of a GBF member, Sharron did not quit the work she loved. Instead, she turned her attention to two local environmental groups where she shared much of the knowledge she had acquired over the past few decades—The Cradle of Texas Conservancy, Inc.
and Dow Chemical’s Community Advisory Panel (“CAP”). The Community Advisory Panel brings together local petrochemical plants and individuals with experience in environmental safety to exchange information about the current efficacy of safety measures taken by local industry to prevent danger to citizens and the environment. Due to her vast experience with issues of interest to her industry cohorts, Sharron commanded attention when she rose to speak.
Despite not having studied science in any university, she managed to read, listen, and learn from outstanding environmental scientists and activists. She loved her family above all else, but her second love was the protection of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the trees we admire, and the oceans that are vital to human and animal existence. Following a day-long interview by David Todd and David Weisman of The Texas Legacy Organization on October 23, 2003 (available here https://vimeo.
com/586444756 ), one interviewer remarked that it was incredible how Sharron had managed to devote so much time to studying the environment and acting on so many levels to preserve it, while still finding time to devote to her husband, three children, and grandson. But she did. Sharron is survived by her husband Vaughan O.
Stewart of Lake Jackson, Texas; son, John W. Stewart of Fort Worth, Texas; daughter, Leslie M. Stewart of Lockhart, Texas; daughter, Melissa L.
Stewart-Haynes, son-in-law, Gibby Haynes, and grandson, Satchel Haynes of Brooklyn, New York. A memorial service will be held at a later date. To honor Sharron, please volunteer for or donate to the Galveston Bay Foundation ( https://galvbay.
org ), the SPCA of Brazoria County, or any other organization dedicated to preserving the environment or saving animals. And take a moment to appreciate our beautiful and delicate natural environment and remember that it’s worthwhile saving..
