Sharon Rita (Provost) Mickel

Sharon Rita (Provost) Mickel, a loving mom, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, passed gracefully into the arms of our Lord, surrounded by love and family in the early morning hours of May 1st, 2023, at The Slate Valley Center in Granville, NY, after a long courageous battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Sharon, age 79, was born on May 26th, 1943, in Whitehall, NY, to the late Homer & Rita (Martin) Provost.

 She lived her entire life in this quiet little railroad and canal town at the foot of Lake Champlain. She was a proud graduate of Whitehall High School class of 1961 with a Business degree. She was a devout communicant of the local Whitehall Catholic Churches.  She often told treasured childhood stories of growing up there playing with her two sisters, friends, and family, riding the train to Fort Edward with her sisters to visit and spend weekends with relatives in South Glens Falls. They got to ride for free because their dad worked for the Railroad. She spoke lovingly of being babysat by her grandpa after school and being spoiled with ice cream and candy while waiting for her mom to finish work at the Coat Shop. She especially liked adventures at Huletts Landing swimming and hiking with her friend Dottie.

Sharon spent most of her life being a stay-at-home Mom raising three children and being a second Mom to many of their friends, loving them as her own, smothering them with good home cooking, playing board games, going for rides in the country and along Lake Champlain looking for Bigfoot and Champ, making popcorn for movies and overnight slumber parties or Drive Inns. She helped her kids at an early age to learn the value of charity by helping them have Ronald McDonald Carnivals in their back yard. She was particularly good at planning adventures in the Adirondacks to days of old Amusement Parks and Landmarks; Land of Make Believe, Whiteface Mountain, The North Pole, Frontier Town, Animal Land, Story Town, Gaslight Village, Time Town, AuSable Chasm, to name a few. She loved the outdoors and camping, picnicking, and hiking with her family. As a grandma she passed these traditions on with her grandkids, always spoiling them at every opportunity, teaching them how to make homemade candles, baking pies, bunny cakes at Easter and Santa cakes at Christmas, and classic games like, hide n seek, huckle buckle bean stalk and everyone’s favorite board game of Scrabble.  No one could ever beat Grandma at Scrabble! She was full of life and spent many weekends babysitting her grandkids or planning their favorite meals when they came to visit.

After raising her kids, Sharon spent several years in her hometown caring for the elderly as a Home Health Aid. She took care of dozens of residents and couples, and they loved her dearly as she did them. Our Mom enjoyed the simple things in life. She loved to sew, crochet, plant flower gardens and go to flea markets and craft fairs. She collected all kinds of kitty cat knick knacks, jewelry, clothing etc.… She was an avid reader and loved poetry. She exchanged books regularly with many of her friends. She could be seen often curled up on her porch with her kitty, “Ciara”, a good cup of coffee and book in hand or visiting with one of her many neighbors that she was blessed to have: Barb, Mona, Jeff, Eddie, and Allen to name a few. She was incredibly grateful for Jeff helping her with anything that she ever needed and would quietly sneak over and put homemade baked goods in his truck to find in the morning on his way to work. She also collected for many charities in her neighborhood over the years.

In addition to her parents. She was predeceased by her first husband, Lloyd Idwall Jones and her second husband, Robert Charles Mickel.  Brother in law, Pepper Stark and special friend William Myzak .

Left to cherish her memory are two sisters, Patricia Provost, and Ann Stark Nichols (Dan) of Whitehall. Three children: Melissa Cadarette (Daniel) Queensbury NY; Audrey Mickel Brown (Tim Smith) Plattsburgh, NY; Adam Mickel (Jennifer Canales) Rutland Vt.

Twelve grandchildren: Heather, Robert, and Benjamin Engwer; Joshua Pond, Desiree Nelson, Brandon and Drew Brown; Alexandria and Sydney Mickel, Elizabeth Gosselin, Jakob and Austin Canales.  Five great grandchildren, three cousins: Paula (Ames) Walker (Dale), Fla, Michael Martin (Trini) of Whitehall, NY and Mary Martin (Lloyd) of Saratoga Springs, NY;   two nephews: Stephen and Jonathon Stark of Whitehall and her beloved cat Ciara.

The family wishes to extend a special heartfelt thanks to the staff at The Slate Valley Center in Granville NY for their special love and attention given to our mom.

Calling Hours will be held from 4-6 pm on Sunday May 14th, 2023 at The Jillson Funeral Home in Whitehall. A Mass of Christian Burial will be conducted at noon on Monday, May 15th, 2023 at Our Lady of Hope Roman Catholic Church in Whitehall. Interment will be in The Our Lady of Angels Cemetery on Wednesday, May 17th, 2023, time to be announced.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in memory of Sharon; c/o Purrs and Paws Cat Shelter, PO Box 4197 Queensbury, NY 12804 or to The Our Lady of Hope Roman Catholic Church in Whitehall, NY with a memo to help with the roofing repairs.

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