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David C Sharpe
David C. Sharpe passed away on June 19, 2020 at the age of 91. David is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ruth Sharpe and his siblings, Walta Thompson of Buffalo NY, Alvin Sharpe Jr., (Patricia) of Indianapolis, IN, and a host of nieces, nephews, in-laws, family and friends. David was preceded in death by his brother John (Evelyn). David’s career in architecture spanned more than sixty years and included service as a student and professor of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and as an architect with Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM). David was born in Decaturville, Tennessee on September 4, 1928 to Alvin and Gertrude Sharpe, who were both educated at Tennessee State College and taught high school. They instilled in him a life-long love of learning. Recognizing his drawing talent and interest in architecture and engineering, one of David’s teachers, who had attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, encouraged David to apply to Tuskegee. David applied and received a full scholarship to study at Tuskegee as part of the ROTC program. As a part of the Tuskegee tradition at that time, David worked on plans and drawings for buildings on campus and even did some plumbing and carpentry work. During his last year of college, Tuskegee arranged an internship for David with Charr Architects, an architecture firm in Philadelphia. The experience he had at Charr confirmed his desire to be an architect. It was in Philadelphia that he met his wife, Ruth. David graduated from Tuskegee in 1950 with a degree in Commercial Industries. As his studies at Tuskegee were coming to an end, the Korean War was just beginning. As many of his friends were being drafted into the army, David chose to enlist in the Air Force. He served during the Korean War from 1950-1954. His stint overseas in the Air Force was mostly spent working in Japan on air communications. His job was to design installations of ground control systems all over the Far East for the Air Force and allies. David was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force shortly before he was honorably discharged. In 1951, during an extended layover in Chicago, David took a sightseeing tour of the city. As the bus went north on Lake Shore Drive (LSD), David was taken by the 860-880 N. Lake Shore Drive buildings under construction nearby. The architect of the buildings was Mies van der Rohe. David heard the name as “Miss van der Row.” He quickly wrote to his father and asked him to find out all he could about Miss Row. His father, armed with a bit of misinformation, found the book “Mies van der Rohe” by Philip Johnson, published in 1947, and sent it to David. David was hooked on Mies and later came to Chicago to study with and eventually work and teach with Mies at IIT. David applied for acceptance to IIT’s graduate school of architecture in 1956. He initially received a rejection letter, but that letter couldn’t stop David. So, he traveled to Chicago, walked into IIT, and asked why he was denied enrollment. He was granted an interview on the spot and was told they wouldn’t take him into the graduate program, as he didn’t have an undergraduate degree in architecture. However, IIT did agree to admit David as an undergraduate, telling him he could get a degree in a couple years and then apply for graduate school. David took IIT up on the offer and became a student right away. While studying at IIT, David met and became good friends for the rest of life with John Vinci. From 1962 to 1982, David worked as an architect at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) with the likes of Myron Goldsmith, Fazlur Kahn, and others. David was eventually awarded his own design studio at SOM and at one time was the studio head in SOM offices in Tehran. The Chicago projects he worked on included the Sears Tower (now known as Willis Tower), the Hancock building, Julian and Corliss High Schools, and the South Park Baptist Church Housing for Elders. When not working, David spent much time with family and friends and friends of friends. He was a great cook (ham and apples), avid bid whist player (especially with his brother Alvin), a great storyteller (mostly from his own life), a best friend to any child and an intellect on any topic (from art to baseball). His genius and love will be sorely missed by many.September 4, 1928 - June 18, 202009/04/192806/18/2020
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David C Sharpe
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