Sharon Louise Burns Holcombe, 78, died peacefully with both of her daughters at her side on April 2, 2025 following a lengthy illness.

Sharon was born on August 6, 1946 in Norwood, Massachusetts, to Helen (Loehr) and William Burns. She was the second child of ten children. Sharon attended King Philip Regional High School in Norfolk, Massachusetts, and then Regis College for one year. She transferred to the University of New Hampshire, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics. In 1973, she enrolled at M.I.T. to study business at the Sloan School of Management. Sharon described the intense, year-long master’s program as the “toughest year of my life” and graduated with an M.B.A. in 1974. She then worked for Booz Allen Hamilton in Bethesda, Maryland, where she met her husband, Jud Holcombe. They married in December 1975 and had two daughters.

Sharon and Jud divorced amicably in 1984, and Sharon and her daughters moved to Milford, New Hampshire to be near family.

While in New Hampshire, Sharon was an antiques dealer and active community member, participating in the Daughters of the American Revolution, Lions Club, attending the Milford Congregational Church, and substituting and volunteering in the Milford public schools. She moved to Bennington, NH, in 2006.

The joys of Sharon’s life were her daughters Leslie and Lindsey and her granddaughter Louisa, who was born in 2017. She absolutely loved being Nana to Louisa, participating in the weekly baby group at The Grapevine and taking her on adventures to Gregg Lake in Antrim or to the MIT campus in Cambridge.

Throughout her life, Sharon was an avid traveler and loved taking her family on adventures across the U.S. and abroad. She loved genealogy, enjoying trips to Scotland, England, and Canada to research family history. She also loved art and took up watercolor painting and folk art as hobbies.

Sharon is survived by her daughters Leslie Holcombe of Bennington, NH, Lindsey Holcombe of Peterborough, NH, her granddaughter Louisa Holcombe, her nine siblings: John, William, Stephen, Elizabeth, Charles, Robert, Barbara, Richard, and Glenn Burns, and many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A celebration of Sharon’s life will be held this summer. All are welcome, so please reach out to the family for details. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH, or The Grapevine in Antrim, NH.