Sharon Frances Bellomy

Sharon Frances Bellomy, 77, of Rhinelander, passed away unexpectedly Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, at Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital.

Sharon was born in Racine, April 24, 1946, the daughter of Frank Anthony and Alma Ella Kowalski (nee Tobias). She had two older sisters, Joan, and Shirley. When Sharon was just two years old, her mother died of a heart attack. 

Her father later married LaVerne Piper and they had one daughter together, Sharon’s sister Kathleen. 

Sharon graduated from William Horlick High School in 1964. She worked at M&I Bank, Racine, as a teller and proof operator. In 1964 she married Jerry Bellomy. He was a country western singer, and the pair focused for many years on building his career, living, a variety of places including Nashville for a short time. Sharon wrote lyrics for a number of Jerry’s songs, including the family favorite, “Hobo Joe,” which got a bit of radio airplay. 

The couple later moved to Crandon, where they operated a riding stable. Sharon also worked at the Claridge Motor Inn in Rhinelander. 

In 1984 the couple decided to divorce, and Sharon moved home to Racine to be near her family. There she worked at Racine Telecable. In 1989 she returned to Rhinelander and the Claridge Motor Inn, working there for the next 25 years as the front desk manager until her retirement in 2014. Her friends and coworkers at “The Claridge” were a second family to Sharon and she formed lifelong bonds with many of them. 

Sharon and her sisters loved to visit over bottomless cups of coffee and were known for the volume of their conversations and laughter. Sharon was an incredibly hard worker, both at her jobs and at the riding stable, where she toted hay and water alongside teenagers. She was also stubborn and determined. Once on a bet with their husbands, Sharon and her sister Shirley walked from Racine to their sister Joan’s home in East Troy, a distance of 33 miles. They arrived exhausted with blisters on their feet, but they proved their husbands wrong. As they often did. 

Sharon never had children of her own, but she had a lifetime of “babies,” including nieces and nephews, but also many with fur. Dogs, cats, horses, goats and chipmunks were some of her favorites, but she loved all living things, and supported a variety of animal-related charities. 

Sharon loved her extended family deeply and her home was always filled with family photos. Both her older sisters died young, and her core group of friends helped to fill that void. Sharon, Jane Tait, and “The Debs” — Deb Umland and Deb Gaber — were especially fond of their every-other-Tuesday forays to The Northwestern and were known to have laughter-filled sleepovers.  

Sharon will be deeply missed by friends, family, and the animal kingdom, all of which benefited deeply from the love she shared so freely with them. She had an especially strong bond with her nephew, Paul Mitchell, and losing her has been like losing his mother for a second time. 

Sharon was preceded in death by her father, Frank Kowalski; mother, Alma Kowalski; stepmother, LaVerne Kowalski, sisters and their husbands Joan and Donald Kadow and Tom and Shirley Mitchell; and many beloved pets. 

She is survived by her sister, Kathleen Kowalski; nieces and nephews Kurt and Keith Kadow, Dawn Snyder, and Tom (Sandy), Mike (Kathy), Tim (Katherine) and Paul (Vaughn) Mitchell; many great nieces and nephews; dear friends Jane and Tom Tait, Deb and Dave Gaber, and Deb Umland; and her favorite furry nieces, Zasha, LiZa and LorNa. 

The visitation for Sharon will take place on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, at the Hildebrand Funeral Home from 2 p.m. until the 4 p.m. Memorial Service. Chaplain John Uhlarik will officiate.

Inurnment will take place at a later date at Graceland Cemetery, Racine, Wisconsin.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the Hildebrand Funeral Home & Cremation Specialists, 24 E. Davenport Street, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, 54501, 715-365-4343. Everyone is invited to sign the guestbook or leave an online condolence at www.hildebrandrussfh.com.