Harry Sharp
A Brief History of the Life and Times of Harry G. Sharp, III
A product of Sikeston, Missouri, Harry G. Sharp, III graduated from Sikeston High School after which he attended and earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mathematics from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri and Florida State University. He is a Vietnam Era Veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers, had a sales and marketing career with the IBM Corporation, taught mathematics at Florida State University and Spelman College of Atlanta, operated The Sharper System consulting business in Atlanta, taught physics at Sikeston and Kelly High Schools, and was a Local Pastor with the United Methodist Church in Southeast Missouri and Peterhead, Scotland.
Two tours in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers took Harry to Korea and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. As a Second and First Lieutenant in Korea he was a platoon leader, escort officer for a USO show, lead a construction team in the First Cavalry Division, and created, organized, and operated a Korean soldier (KATUSA) training school for I Corps commander, Lieutenant General H. H. Fischer. At Fort Campbell Harry was the Assistant Operations Officer (Assistant S-3) and Battalion Adjutant (S-1).
Harry joined the IBM Corporation in St. Louis in 1964 where he worked with Southwestern Bell; Mercantile, Boatmen’s, and First National Banks; and General American Life. Although his primary customer was Southwestern Bell, his work with the bank consortium helped create a credit card system which became the backbone for MasterCharge. He received national honors by IBM for this work. His twenty-six year IBM career also took him to the Advanced Education Center in Washington, DC where he taught Information Management Systems and Communication System Design; to Franklin Lakes, New Jersey near New York City where he was a communications consultant for the Office Products Division; and finally to the National Marketing Division Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia where he was involved in Office and Systems Application Architecture Marketing. Harry seized an IBM early retirement offer in 1990.
Harry and his wife Anita returned to his hometown of Sikeston, Missouri in 1993. There he taught high school physics for five years and was the pastor of two United Methodist Churches in Southeast Missouri over ten years and was an interim pastor in Northern Scotland one summer. Harry retired from the ministry in June, 2010. He and his wife enjoy their family, friends, and traveling the world.
