Portrait of Sharon McPherson. IMB Photo

Sharon McPherson, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Northern Africa and the Middle East, died Feb. 15, 2025, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She was 84.  

Sharon was born June 15, 1940, in Bentonville, Arkansas, to the late Carl and Thelma Hanson. She graduated from Las Cruces (New Mexico) High School and attended Tarrant County Junior College (now Tarrant County College) in Fort Worth, Texas. 

She spent her first 15 years growing up in the Kansas countryside before her family moved to Las Cruces during her sophomore year of high school. Upon graduation, she began working as a secretary at White Sands Missile Range. During this time, she met Jim McPherson at the First Baptist Church of Las Cruces. They were married Nov. 22, 1960.  

Jim was an established banker when the Lord called him to preach in 1968, and they moved to Fort Worth, Texas, the following January to attend seminary. Sharon worked part time at the Southwestern Journal of Theology. During this time, and after years of recurring doubt, Sharon came to saving faith in Christ. While seeking missionary appointment she wrote, “For years I had been working very hard in the church – trying to work my way into heaven, I suppose. Then one morning when I was trying to get my housework done, the Holy Spirit deeply convicted me as to my true condition – lost!”   

Through seminary classes and friends, she began to experience a growing call to missions. While seeking appointment she recalled, “At first, I was afraid and unsure that I wanted to go anywhere the Lord wanted me – after all, where might He put us? After much prayer and Bible study and seeking God’s will, I finally came to the point that I thought I would just die if God wouldn’t let me be one of His ambassadors to a foreign land. At no time did I see missions as a surrender – but only as a privilege.” 

In 1973, the International Mission Board appointed Jim and Sharon missionaries to Northern Africa and the Middle East. She befriended and tutored local high school and college students in English and coordinated the language study of new missionaries. She also edited three Arabic-language textbooks and started and directed a reading room/library.  

She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Jim McPherson; her son, David Mcpherson of Las Cruces; her daughter, Karla Cannata (Mike) of Crescent, Oklahoma; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. 

A memorial service was held March 1 at La Paz-Graham’s Funeral Home in Las Cruces. 

Read an obituary here.