Sharon L. Tobys, 81, of Orofino, died Friday, June 3, 2022, at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. She was born April 17, 1941, in Peru, Ill. Her mother, Virginia, divorced Sharon’s biological father and married William Radke, who legally adopted Sharon when she was 5 years old. He was a great father, friend, provider and she always called him “Daddy,” even until his death.
Sharon graduated from LaSalle-Peru High School in 1959 and then went to Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa, where she graduated in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. She did her student teaching at Moline Senior. After graduation, Sharon taught Physical Education in Streator, Ill., where she taught classes four grades of elementary, two years of junior high and four years of high school, plus GAA and cheerleaders. This was all quiet overwhelming for her first year of teaching.
Sharon then moved to Champaign, Ill., where she worked for a photographer on campus, then as an assistant manager of the Brass Rail Restaurant and the Champaign Courier Newspaper before she and her husband, George W. Stone, moved to Idaho.
The Lewiston area of Idaho was definitely a surprise for Sharon, as her first view of it was from on top of Lewiston Hill. Since she came from “flat land country,” looking down into the valley was a little scary. It wasn’t long, though, before she came to love not only Lewiston, but all of Idaho that she and George explored on the weekends.
Her first job in Lewiston was at the Big V Department Store. From there, she worked at the Lewiston Tribune and then to the Moneysaver. She divorced George Stone in 1988 and in 1992 married Thomas Tobys, who was originally from Chicago. She thought that was an unusual happening. Only in Idaho could you marry someone from your home state. Also, for those who knew Sharon, most of them knew her as “Sherrie.”
Sharon had worked for only a short time at And Books Too when she and Tom were involved in an accident in a crosswalk at Washington State University after attending a craft show there Oct. 22, 1993, from which she received severe head and brain injuries. After recovery at Sacred Heart in Spokane and then Rehab in Puyallup, Wash., she returned to Lewiston on March, 9, 1994.
While in Lewiston, Sharon was active with the YWCA, working with the Valley Boys and Girls Club, United Way and was on an Advisory Board at Lewis-Clark State College. At this time, she was still know as Sharon Stone.
Sharon’s father, William Radke; her sister, Nancy; and both sets of grandparents preceded her in death.
In 1999, Sharon and her husband, Tom, moved to Orofino where they currently reside. Both she and her husband love living in Idaho where the country is outstanding, the people are so friendly. Both of them said “it would be hard to move back to the “flat land country” after living out West in “God’s Country.”
A celebration of life will take place at a later date.
