By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
FEB. 27, 2026 | Earlier readers of GwinnettForum may remember the contributions of the person we called our Roving Photographer, Frank Sharp of Lawrenceville. Frank was a camera buff; he had a lot of up-to-date cameras. He was an excellent photographer, and sent us all sorts of quality pictures, which delighted our readers.
Frank was an excellent computer scientist, was employed with several scientific companies, and retired comfortably with his wife to Lawrenceville.
He and I became good friends, often having lunch or breakfast in haunts around the county. We swapped paying for our meals and enjoyed conservations.
When working near Knoxville, Tenn., Frank met his wife, Pearl Chao Sharp. She was born in mainland China, but escaped to Taiwan, where she got her early education. She later came to the United States and earned a degree at Western Kentucky State University. She worked with the Tennessee Valley Administration as a database analyst.
That’s where she and Frank met when he was working in that area. When they moved to Lawrenceville, she was a computer specialist for the Center for Disease Control, where she retired. She died on October 1, 2022, which devastated Frank. He had adopted her son, Terry Hen Sao Sharp, who now lives in Warner Robins. However, he and Frank did not have a good relationship.
Here’s why Frank is the subject today. For more than a year, we have not heard from him. Previously, he would often call, or email some of his photographs to the Forum. But lately, nothing.
Then about a week ago, out of the blue, Jim Steiner of Maynardville, Tenn., in Union County, called me. He, also, had not heard from Frank in ages, and wanted to know if I had any current information about him, which of course, I had not.
Frank was a regular visitor to Maynardville, especially to the annual reunion of the 1960 graduating class, which included 102 people, including Steiner. Frank photographed each year’s reunion and shared his work with class members.
Steiner told me: “Frank would often visit here and had never missed many high school class reunions. We were concerned about him and thought you might know something.”
Steiner said that their graduating class consisted of 102 students from the county. In those days, Maynardville had a population of only 300-400. Today, a suburb of Knoxville 15 miles away, Maynardville’s population is still small, 2,456 people in 2020. Besides being the county seat of Union County, it was the birthplace of country music legend Roy Acuff. And Norris Lake is five miles north of Maynardville.
The last time Frank made it to his high school reunion was in 2024. Since then, Steiner, a retired banker and underground utility person, has not heard from him. That was also about the last time we had heard from him. We sought information from many, including his neighbors, but learned nothing.
Frank regularly attended the Lawrenceville Senior Center meetings and enjoyed their lunch. We learned that one of the regulars at their luncheon had told one of the Senior Center officials that Frank Sharp had died over a year ago but had no further information. A search of local records found no added information.
So, unfortunately, we can add no more about the life of Frank Sharp, a friendly, kind and good person. Perhaps you have information you can share.
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