Sharpe and her late husband Henry “Hank” Sharpe, who died at age 99 in 2022, were crucial in helping to establish what we now call The Public’s Radio, recalled Elizabeth Delude-Dix, co-chair of the board of directors for the Rhode Island PBS Foundation and The Public’s Radio. The Public’s Radio recently merged with Rhode Island PBS. “The focus all along was local, local, local,” Delude-Dix said.
Delude-Dix recalled how Peggy Sharpe was intent on driving from out of town to Providence for a planning meeting in the early years of the station, despite a fierce snowstorm. Peggy didn’t get the notice that the meeting had been scrapped, but her determination was clear.
“We have long benefited from the thoughtful and insightful attention of Peggy Sharpe,” Delude-Dix said. “Peggy was a doer! Her vision and hard work can be found across the state from public radio to the environment. Rhode Island is a better state because Peggy Sharpe cared.”
David N. Cicilline, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, said, “Peggy was such an inspiration, dedicated to improving quality of life throughout our state through her generosity and civic leadership. She will be missed, but there is no doubt that the indelible legacies left by both Peggy and Henry will live on for generations.”
The Sharpes also served on the boards of the Providence Journal, Brown University and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council.
The Sharpes’ philanthropy was fueled by Henry Sharpe’s decades-long run as the head of the bygone tool manufacturing powerhouse, Brown and Sharpe.
Peggy Sharpe supported numerous organizations, including the Nature Conservancy and the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program, which planted more than 10,000 trees.
“I will remember her as an awesome mentor who helped me find my environmental nonprofit voice,” said Jen Cole, a former director of the planting program who now runs Clean Fairfax in northern Virginia. “I’m not sure where I would be in my personal and professional life if not for having Peggy as a mentor.
Cole said Sharpe set a great example by mixing kindness and graciousness with a fierce strength.
As of Henry Sharpe’s passing, the couple left three children, Henry III, Douglas and Sarah, their spouses and five grandchildren.
