Sharon Nelson Weilbaecher

Sharon Nelson Weilbaecher
Born 9/14/1938 Died 5/19/2019

Sharon Nelson Weilbaecher passed away on Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 8pm. Beloved wife of 55 years to Robert Gagnet Weilbaecher, mother to Katherine Nelson Weilbaecher, Susan Weilbaecher Raymond, Robert Gagnet Weilbaecher Jr. and Ann Weilbaecher Barry, and her 7 grandchildren, Austin, Julia, Robbie, Ellie, Erik, Finn and William. Sharon was above all a rock in the Weilbaecher family. Her thoughtfulness, humor, talent, compassion and faith will be greatly missed by all whose lives she touched - family, friends and colleagues alike. She worked tirelessly to always make her family and friends feel loved and honored. Sharon was a loyal and wonderful person who had a great sense of humor and a vast array of interests and knowledge. She was also an avid patron of art, literature and theatre. She and her husband travelled widely to 6 continents and also had many outdoor adventure trips.
Sharon was born on September 14, 1938 in Fort Smith, Arkansas to her architect father, Elmer Chester Nelson, and former school teacher mother, Minnie Laser Nelson. She received her BFA degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her MA in Medical Illustration from Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, MD, where she met her husband, Robert Weilbaecher, then an internal medicine resident. The two were surprised to learn they shared the same birthday. It was fate! Sharon was on the faculty of Johns Hopkins Medical School in the Medical Art Department. She lived in New Orleans since 1967 and was the Director of Medical Illustration at both Tulane Medical Center and the Ochsner Medical Foundation in New Orleans until l976. 
Sharon had more than 800 illustrations published in medical and surgical journals and textbooks.  Since 1976 she was also a prolific fine artist. Her preferred medium was watercolor and she delighted in creating her compositions from people both regionally and around the world that she would encounter on her many travels, capturing with vivid realism her subjects’ essence. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums locally and throughout the United States including: The New Orleans Museum of Art, the White House, The Forbes Magazine Galleries and Grand Central Art Galleries in New York City. Sharon received numerous awards and honors in national competitions and her work was featured on the cover of AMERICAN ARTIST magazine. She was the love of her husband and her 4 children's lives. She will be profoundly missed. Family and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass on Friday, May 24, 2019 at 12:15 pm in the J. Garic Schoen Chapel of JACOB SCHOEN & SON FUNERAL HOME, 3827 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70119. Visitation will begin at 9:30 am and continue until Mass time. Interment will follow in All Saints Mausoleum, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124. Condolences may be expressed at www.schoenfh.com.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the New Orleans Museum of Art. Sharon’s paintings can be viewed on http://www.sharonweilbaecher.com/.

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