A friendly and outgoing Keswick woman who did much to champion gay rights after coming out in her mid-20s has died suddenly, aged 46.
Sharon “Shazza” Thwaites, of Coleridge Court, was well known in the town as being a larger-than-life character who had a cheery and fun loving personality.
Born in Carlisle, Sharon attended nursery in Brigham and then went to Trinity School, Keswick, before moving to Keswick School aged 11. She stayed on at sixth form but decided it was not what she expected and left and got some “bit part jobs here and there”.
While in her early 20s she went out to Turkey to join two of her friends and found a boyfriend while out there. She worked in bars, looked after children and played a bride at mock Turkish weddings.
At the age of 23 she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and moved back home. She underwent six weeks of intense weekly chemotherapy, six weeks of daily radiotherapy and her final treatment was internal radiotherapy.
“They were unable to operate because the tumour was so large,” said her mother Alison Thwaites, who is married to Peter, a self-employed plumbing and heating engineer. “Unfortunately due to her treatment it left her unable to have children and this was the only time I ever saw her cry. She always wanted children. She loved them so much. But she doted on her five nephews Harry 18, Jack 15, Paddy 13, Oliver 13 and five-year-old Archie.
“She had made a full recovery but her treatment left her quite anxious, but she never painted this picture to the world and she presented a larger-than-life, fun loving character who was a friend to many.”
It was during her mid-20s that Sharon came out and became a champion of gay rights and had a relationship with Sandra Abrahams, who sadly died in 2019.
“I don’t think she fully recovered from her loss,” said her mother. “Since Sharon’s death a lot of younger gay people have come to me to say what a huge help she was to them as they came out.
“The happiest Peter and I ever saw Sharon was one day when we met them in Manchester and they were going to see Bette Midler in concert. The final song played at her funeral was The Rose by Bette Midler.”
Sharon loved socialising and was a regular in the Twa Dogs and also enjoyed singing karaoke in Keswick and Cockermouth bars and playing pool and darts. One of her favourite songs to sing was The Penny Arcade, by Roy Orbison, and this was also played at her funeral which took place at Eden Valley Crematorium on October 10. It was attended by a large gathering of family and friends.
She was also a massive fan of Newcastle United and the team sent the family a signed sheet thanking Sharon for her support.
Sharon leaves behind a brother, Gary, who is an electrical engineer and her sister, Laura, owns and runs the Jingles hairdressing salon in Keswick. She was also worshipped by her four cousins – Nicola, Stuart, Helen and Emily – for whom she would regularly babysit when in her teens. Sharon was also very close to her aunts and uncles, Claire and Mike Bell, Chris and Sue Greenhow, Deborah Wilson her Godmother, Ernie Thwaites and John and Sue Thwaites.
She is also survived by her nanny Muriel Thwaites, aged 96, and nana Margaret Thwaites, aged 90.
Sharon’s funeral service was conducted by celebrant Gillian Hinckley, who took a lot of her material from Sharon’s autobiography which she wrote at school, aged nine, with spelling and punctuation well beyond her years. Readings were made by brother Gary, 13-year-old nephew Paddy and Sharon’s close friend Marc McAdam. Sharon will leave a hole in so many lives.
