Roll Call Tribute

Sharon Kaye (Karnes) Heffner 

March 26, 1955 - May 22, 2020 

On May 22, 2020, Sharon Kaye (Karnes) Heffner passed away with her husband by her side, at her home in Gainesville, TX, following a year long, courageous struggle with cancer. She was 65 years old.

Sharon was born in 1955 to Doris and Otis Karnes in Dallas, TX, and graduated from Kimball High School in 1973. She attended Texas A&M University where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Floriculture in 1977. She married Darryl Heffner in 1981 and stayed faithfully together for 39 years.

Sharon's first love in life was Jesus Christ, and it showed in all her relationships and all who knew her. She touched many lives and always showed kindness and love to everyone she met. Her main desires were spending as much time with her family as possible, raising and homeschooling her children, and caring for her farm home.

Sharon is preceded in death by her father, William Otis Karnes, and her mother Doris Nell (Johnson) Karnes, and many aunts and uncles. She is survived by her husband, Darryl Heffner, and their 3 children, Timothy, Jonathan and Matthew Heffner, and 1 granddaughter, Audrey Heffner (to son Timothy); her brother James M. "Mike" Karnes '74, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

A memorial service was held at Leonard Park pavilion in Gainesville, TX on June 13th, 2020 at 11am (outside the Frank Buck Zoo). Her ashes were sprinkled on a tree that will be dedicated to her on the Memorial Trail in Gainesville, TX.