Bruce Walden Sharp

Bruce Walden Sharp was born to Mildred and Olen Sharp on November 3, 1946 in Mesa, Arizona. Bruce grew up on his parents’ dairy farm where he and his brother, Floyd, and sister, Martha had to perform daily chores; one of which included milking the hundreds of cows on the farm. Bruce was a good student throughout school and attended the University of Arizona in 1965. He graduated in 1970 and in 1971 he received his first pharmacy license for the state of Arizona. He met Karen Hill and the two were married in April of 1971. Soon after, they moved to California and Bruce purchased three Medicine Shoppe pharmacies; one in Santa Barbara, one in Santa Paula and one in Ventura. In 1983, they had a boy named Brett and in 1985 their daughter Megan was born. Bruce has since sold the Santa Barbara and Santa Paula stores. He is still the owner of the Medicine Shoppe in Ventura and strives to maintain a professional level of service and a friendly atmosphere that welcomes his customers.

Bruce exemplifies a hero in modern times. Today, there is a lack of professional businesses forming close relationships with their customers in order to earn their trust and in turn, life-long customers. Bruce can be found in his store every day of the week, conversing and counseling customers on a personal basis. It is quite obvious that he cares about his patients. Outside of his store, he can hardly go anywhere without being recognized by his customers and stopped for a friendly chat.

Bruce has given to several charitable organizations. He has been donating money to the Special Olympics, which allows the disabled the same opportunities a chance to participate in Olympic sports, for years. He also gives to the Children’s Resource Program and to the Salvation Army. At Christmas he holds toy drives in conjunction with the Ventura Fire Department. Furthermore, his profession is heroic in itself. He chose to become a pharmacist and help sick people every day.

Mr. Sharp represents resourcefulness, determination, empathy, kindness and dedication.

In 1996, Bruce was skiing in Mammoth when he had a horrible accident while up on the slopes. He hit a mound of snow with one ski and spun around, twisting his right knee. He was rushed to the hospital. In July, several surgeries later, the doctors informed him that a torn up knee was not his only problem. He was diagnosed with a form of cancer called Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia. Since then he has experienced immense pain and gone through chemotherapy. Currently, his cancer is in remission. Rather than shriveling up upon hearing his diagnosis, he has learned to cope and he continues to live a happy and meaningful life.