NOVEMBER 2017 10 | FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM Photo: Thurlkill Studios Photo: Thurlkill Studios

NOVEMBER 2017 FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM | 11 {by mike saucier} COVER STORY Sharon and Ollie Harper’s lives are a love story spanning the course of almost five decades. But this love story goes beyond the merely romantic. It’s one of a love of family, philanthropy and community with a young and growing Arizona as the idyllic setting. The story begins with their childhood admiration for their parents. It continues via 46 years of hard work and charitable activity in the Valley of the Sun. Through it all is woven the upbringing of their four children and a niece they raised. It’s a story that will continue with their four young grandchildren (with a fifth on the way). The years of service and charity work are evident in some recent honors they’re received — a Lifetime Achievement Award from Phoenix Theater, and their selection as co-chairs of the Arizona State University President’s Club — to go along with a lifetime of recognition for their personal and professional contributions to the community. And, on October 31, Sharon was the recipient of Valley Leadership’s prestigious Woman of the Year designation, with her Greater Phoenix Leadership colleague Neil Giuliano named Man of the Year. The Harpers have been at the forefront of philanthropic and community involvement with just about every significant organization in Arizona. At the center of their relationship resides a shared philosophy of giving in their upbringings that led to the good fortune for them to run into each other at a Midwestern college. Sharon and Dr. Oliver “Ollie” Harper on how their family ties shaped their remarkable impact on the Valley of the Sun Generosity Generations OF