Sharon Rae (Fellbaum) Kinden

World traveler Sharon Kinden, 85, embarked on the Ultimate Trip on Friday, October 24, 2025.

Sharon Rae Kinden was born September 3, 1940, in Sisseton, South Dakota, to Walter E. and Hildegard “Tommy” (Siewert) Fellbaum.  She attended a one-room school where she received an early start on a teaching career, assisting with the Kindergarten Class when she was in the eighth grade.  She graduated as Valedictorian of the Sisseton High School class of 1958.  In 1962, she received her Bachelor of Arts and Science Degree with High Honors from South Dakota State College (University), Brookings, SD. 

In 1964, Sharon married her beloved husband and best friend, Darrell “Skip” Kinden. In 1966, their union was blessed with the joy of their lives, a daughter Allison Kay.  Together they enjoyed table games, school activities, 4-H, attending MU football games, church friends/potlucks/retreats, road-trips to visit family, summer vacations at the Red Squirrel Resort in Bemidji, MN, college choir concerts, and a wedding to make parents proud.  Skip Kinden died of ALS (Lou Gehrig ’s disease) in 1997.

For eleven years, Sharon taught Speech, Drama and English in public schools in Hartley, IA, Glenwood, MN, Superior, WI, and West Junior High, Columbia, MO.  Real estate was Sharon’s next career choice.  She began selling houses with Tatie Payne, Inc. and transferred to RE/MAX of Mid-Missouri in 1981 which later merged to become RE/MAX Boone Realty.  During her 30-year award-winning career as a Broker-Salesperson, she attained the Graduate REALTORS Institute (GRI), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), and Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) designations.  Over one thousand families benefited from her integrity and high ethical standards.  She was also recognized by her peers and was chosen Columbia’s 1979 REALTOR-Associate of the Year, 1984 ABWA Business Woman of the Year, Missouri Association of Realtor’s 1990 REALTOR-Salesperson of the year, was inducted into the RE/MAX Hall of Fame in 1993, and was recognized as Columbia Board of REALTORS Volunteer of the Year in 2000.  

Sharon always said service to your trade, to the community, and to one’s church was the “rent” one paid for the pleasure of living on earth.  She served on various committees and on the governing boards in the Columbia Board of REALTORS, Missouri Association of REALTORS, and the National Association of Realtors and culminated that service as 1992 President of the Columbia Board of REALTORS.  She was active in Women’s Network, a 400-member Division of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and served as President in 2000-01.  The Missouri Symphony was dear to her heart, and she served on the MOSS Board of Directors for several years in the 1990’s.  As a tribute to her late husband, she donated the proscenium drape and main stage curtain of the Historic Missouri Theatre. 

World travel became her passion, and she visited 77 foreign countries and all seven continents.  Upon retirement, she became involved with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute as a student of provocative issues, as a teacher of “Travels With Sharon” where she shared her thousands of digital photographs, as the founder of the OLLI Travel Club, and served on the Osher@MIZZOU Advisory Board.  Other passions included the University Concert Series, the True/False Film Festival, NASCAR, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Fabulous Fox Theatre, MU Football, and KC Chiefs football.

Always active in Campus Lutheran Church, she served as Sunday School Superintendent in the 1980’s, sang in the choir, taught adult Bible classes, participated in mission work and international ministry.  During the Great Flood of 1993, when she announced she was going to help fill sandbags, her husband Skip, with his model of philanthropy, helped her discover her spiritual gift - writing checks.  In addition to Campus Lutheran Church, she generously supported the Osher Advocates, Central Missouri Food Bank, the University Concert Series, Lutheran World Relief, the Missouri Symphony, Doctors Without Borders, World Central Kitchen, LOVEColumbia, and numerous other charities.  In 2010, when she inherited money from a SD bachelor cousin, with Billy Jivetti she co-founded Pathways Africa-MO to build a hospital in a subsistence farming community of 25,000 in western Kenya, Africa and worked diligently to raise funds to sustain that project. 

Traveling to Minnesota to dote on her grandchildren also consumed her time.  Ice cream and board games were always part of their ritual.  She loved taking her family on trips to Disney World, China, the Black Hills, New York City, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone­­­­.

The Adopt-a-Student program at CLC expanded her family.  Foremost was “adopted” daughter Veronica (Bill) Lee and grand-friends Ethan, Elyssa, and Eric Lee.  Other “daughters” include Chris Gibiser, Melinda Bond Aholt, Kristen Birdshire, and Claire Brown Hagerman.

Sharon is survived by daughter Allison (Dan) Kelly, grandson Hayden Kelly and granddaughter Riley Kelly, adored niece Debra (Terry) Sutton and nephew Warren (Vicky) Fellbaum and their children and grandchildren.

In addition to her parents and grand-parents, Sharon was preceded in death by her beloved husband Skip, brother Sherman Fellbaum and sister-in-law Renata Fellbaum, nephew and godson Paul Fellbaum, numerous special aunts, uncles, and cousins, her in-laws Ardell and O.T. Larson, and her dearest friend Larry David. 

Her parting thoughts: Serve the Lord. Take pictures of everything. Tell people you love them. Talk to random strangers.  Take risks and do things you’re scared to do.  Make your life the best story ever.  Don’t waste time; do it now.

A service and hymn fest will be held on Saturday, November 1 at Campus Lutheran Church, 304 S. College Ave, Columbia, MO at 11:00 AM.  Visitation will be at Campus Lutheran Church prior to the service starting at 9:00 AM.  Sharon donated her body to MU Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences and requests no flowers.  Living memorials may be made to the Campus Lutheran Church Endowment Fund, University of Missouri-Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Columbia, MO 65211, Community Pathways Africa, Attn: Billy Jivetti, 2911 Van Horne Way SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121, or the Missouri Symphony 1103 E Walnut, Suite 104, Columbia, MO 65201.

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