Virginia (Stone) Gup Sharpe

KENNEBUNK – Virginia Gup Sharpe took her final journey on July 7, 2024, at the age of 96. Born in Canton, Ohio, to parents Samuel and Minna Stone on June 24, 2028, she was a worldwide adventurer and will be sorely missed as beloved mother, grandmother, wife and friend.

Virginia attended Canton schools, later continuing her education at Edgewood Park School in Briar Cliff Manor, N.Y. She met Theodore Gup, the love of her life, when she was 19 years old. They married, and together started Mr. Ted’s Menswear in Canton, expanding the locally well-known business over the next 20 years with stores in Louisville and Salem, Ohio. Virginia and Ted raised two children, Theodore and Audrey, before deciding to sell the stores and move their family to Kennebunk, Maine, in 1972. Virginia’s ties to Canton and her friends there would remain strong for the rest of her life, no matter where she lived.

Virginia and Ted were excited to share whatever adventures lay ahead in Maine. The couple decided to go into real estate, enrolling in USM’s Real Estate licensing program. Unfortunately, the Maine winter (back in the 1970’s) was too long for Virginia, and she missed her Ohio friends, so the family moved back to Ohio, where Ted planned to re-enter the menswear business. Sadly, Virginia was widowed at 46, losing Ted to a heart attack a year after their return to Canton – a devastating loss.

After some time, Virginia met and married Donald Sharpe, who shared her love of travel, and the two made cruising a favorite pastime. (She’d logged well over 100 cruises, at last count.) Having also traveled extensively in Europe with Ted, she decided to make travel a profession in her late 50’s, soon becoming the highest-producing agent in her office, and often taking her lucky family members along on her travels. Among her favorite destinations were the Pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of Pompeii, remote islands off the coast of Scotland, and Antarctica. She brought back stories like the one in which her cruise ship to Antarctica was broadsided by a 70-ft rogue wave – shattering most of the dining dishes onboard and leaving 45 people with broken bones, to be off-loaded to a hospital in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Virginia was a unique blend of true “lady,” but with a sometimes naughty sense of humor and mischievous sparkle in her eye. She was progressive and open-minded, always offering her children and grandchildren a non-judgmental ear.

Virginia was predeceased by husbands Theodore Gup and Donald Sharpe, sisters Barbara Landy and Dorothy Newman, and beloved grandson David Gup. She is survived by her loving children, Theodore Gup Jr. (partner Diana Greene) and Audrey Gup-Mathews (partner Gene Zunser), grandchildren Matthew Gup and Castine Mathews, Peggy Watts Gup, niece Carolyn Garson (wife Mary Remer), and nephews Dennis (Pam) Newman and Daniel Newman, and their families.

The family would like to thank the staff of Kennebunk Center for Health & Rehabilitation for their thoughtful care and support during Virginia’s final year. There will be no public funeral, but a gathering of family to celebrate Virginia’s life will take place later this summer.

Contributions in Virginia’s name can be made to the Kennebunkport Historical Society ( Home – Kennebunkport Historical Society (kporths.com) or The Center in Lower Village, Kennebunk (info@seniorcenterkennebunk.org).