March 3, 2016 

Jack Sharpe died last night, Thursday, March 3, 2016 in Encinitas, CA, from complications due to a massive stroke that first occurred over two years ago. Nur, his wife of 38 years, and his children, Mina and Kenan, were with him in his last moments.

In his 76 years, Jack never left an adventure unexplored. Born in San Diego, California, Jack joined the Peace Corps after college and traveled to Turkey, where he was inspired to pursue a career in school psychology. After obtaining his PhD in Psychology, he returned overseas as a school psychologist for the Tehran American School, where he met Nur. Throughout his life, Jack spent time living in Turkey, Iran, Taiwan and Guatemala, and visited and explored Southeast Asia, Europe, Central America and the Middle East.

During his over 40 years as an educator, Jack was a school psychologist for the Tehran American School, The Poway Unified School District, Taipei American School, Ventura County City Schools and San Diego City Schools. He advocated tirelessly for children with special needs throughout his career, and even after his retirement from the school district, he devoted his free time to establishing and supporting special education programs and facilities for children in Guatemala.

Jack’s sense of adventure and zeal for life enriched his family and instilled in his children a love of learning, travel, theatre, and off-the-beaten-path vacation destinations.

His passions included salsa dancing, sailing, repeatedly trying to learn Spanish, and buying (and losing) Swiss Army Knives. He was an aficionado of the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants he could find around the world, soap-on-a-rope, and the Cooking Channel.

He leaves behind his wife, Nur, living in Carlsbad, California; his daughter, Mina, a Personal Appearance Agent in Los Angeles; and his son, Kenan, pursuing a PhD in Literature at University of California at Santa Cruz.

Shalom, Jack. Happy Sailing.

In lieu of flowers, donations to can be made to Brillo del Sol, a school for developmentally disabled children in Antigua, Guatemala, where Jack was a member of the Board of Directors, and volunteered his time and expertise for the past several years. https://brillodesol.org/