Naomi Katherine Sharp Atkinson

Naomi Katherine Sharp Atkinson

Beloved as “Kay” · Cherished as “Kiki”

December 15, 1936 – May 28, 2026

Naomi Katherine Sharp Atkinson, known to all who loved her as “Kay,” and to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as “Kiki”, was born on December 15, 1936, in her family home in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest of seven children, she grew up surrounded by her siblings: Margaret Ann Sharp, Horace Warrington Sharp, Sherwood Glenn Sharp, Frances Joyce Sharp, Carl Mason Sharp, and Robert Erdman Sharp, her surviving brother.

Kay attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth, graduating in 1954. From her earliest years, she trained as a ballerina in nearby Norfolk, Virginia, a discipline that would shape her grace, her posture, and her spirit for the rest of her life. At just eighteen years old, she made the bold decision to leave her family and move to New York City, where she trained with the prestigious School of American Ballet and had the rare privilege of working with the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. It was a chapter that defined her, daring, disciplined, and entirely her own.

Drawn home to Portsmouth in the late 1950s, Kay walked into the Top Hat, a beloved local dance hall, and into the rest of her life. It was there, on a swing dance floor, that she met Walter Leon Atkinson, Jr. Nine months later, they were married, a union that would last 67 beautiful years. Together they became what family and friends would come to call “the glue” that held the extended family together, always traveling to celebrate milestones, always present for the people they loved.

One year after their marriage, Kay welcomed their son, Gary Leon Atkinson, into the world, followed twenty months later by their daughter, Joyce Ann Atkinson, known lovingly as Joy. Even with a young family at home, Kay never stopped dancing or sharing her love of ballet. She taught classes in Portsmouth and later in Raleigh, North Carolina, instilling in her students the same dedication and elegance she had carried since childhood.

In Raleigh, Kay discovered a new passion: tennis. She rose to the competitive ranks of a 4.0 USTA player and later an advanced ALTA player during her years in Atlanta, Georgia. Her athleticism never waned. In her seventies, she would regularly cycle 20 to 40 miles a day, four to five days a week, around the roads near their home in Bluffton, South Carolina, a testament to the strength and discipline she carried all her days.

Throughout her life, Kay was as capable in the professional world as she was graceful on the dance floor. She worked as a Bank Teller at Bank of the South in Decatur, Georgia, and later as a Loan Officer Assistant at the bank’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta, bringing the same precision and warmth to her career that she brought to everything she touched.

Kay was a devoted member of Bluffton United Methodist Church, where her faith was woven into her daily life as naturally as thread through cloth. She was a gifted seamstress and quilter, creating beautiful, artistic quilts as expressions of love for family and friends. She also volunteered her talents with the church’s quilting ministry, joining fellow quilters in making handmade quilts for veterans and those in need. She often served as a greeter at the front doors of the church, welcoming members and newcomers alike with the same radiant smile that everyone who knew her will carry forward.

Dancing remained the thread woven through every chapter of Kay’s life, from the ballet barre of her youth to the swing halls of Portsmouth to the Carolina shag floors she shared with Leon as proud members of the Hilton Head Shag Club of South Carolina. She spread that joy to anyone willing to learn or willing to lead. In her later years in Sun City Hilton Head, she became a beloved figure in the community, walking her cherished Shih Tzu, Toby, through the park and town center each day, collecting friends the way she always had, effortlessly, warmly, and with that unforgettable smile.

Kay is survived by her son, Gary Leon Atkinson, and his wife, Margaret Louise Atkinson; her daughter, Joyce Ann Atkinson (Joy); her grandchildren, Jennifer Leigh Collins and her husband William Matthew Collins, John Atkinson Conlon, and Kylie Conlon; her great-grandchildren, Anna Susan Collins and Evan William Collins; her beloved brother, Robert Erdman Sharp; and her faithful companion, her Shih Tzu, Toby.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 67 years, Walter Leon Atkinson, Jr., on June 23, 2025.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at Bluffton United Methodist Church, Bluffton, South Carolina. Refreshments will follow at the church, after which family and friends are warmly invited to continue the celebration at Hampton Hall Main Clubhouse.

Interment of Kay’s ashes, alongside those of her beloved Leon, will take place in a private family ceremony on Monday, June 15, 2026, at Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort, South Carolina, a final resting place befitting a man who served his country and a love that endured a lifetime.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.”

— Proverbs 31:25