Alberta Coseo Sharp
Alberta Coseo Sharp died April 26, 2006, in Saratoga Springs. She was 88.
Alberta came to Skidmore as a clerk in the admissions office in 1964. Two years later she began work in the office of the president, and she retired as secretary to the president in 1982.
Former provost David Marcell says Alberta was “a warm, gracious, and welcoming presence in the president’s office. She always had a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face.” She was committed to her duties, according to former colleague Barbara Ryan, who recalls that when students took over President Palamountain’s office to demand a greater presence of black and Puerto Rican students and faculty members, Alberta “refused to leave the office. She was respectful of the students, as they were of her, and they exchanged conversation.”
Alberta and husband Andrew co-owned Sharp’s Cozy Cottages in nearby Wilton, N.Y., for 60 years. She was active in her church and community, including the Dorothy Nolan and St. Peter’s Home School Associations, United Way, Boy Scouts, and Saratoga Hospital Guild.
Her husband having predeceased her, she was survived by two daughters (including Maureen, who worked for many years in Skidmore’s special programs office), two sons, six grandchildren, a nephew, and several nieces.