Profile: Sharon Reese

Sharon Reese-McGlory

Connecting a Community

by Sarah Leslie Gagan

The willingness of America's veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude. They have served to protect our freedoms and our lives. We live with a quality of life that exists because of the expense paid by our veterans, yet when their service is complete, it is their own quality of life that is often sacrificed. Bartlesville native Sharon Reese-McGlory has made it her life’s purpose to advocate for the veteran population, and in turn, improve and restore their quality of life.

Born the fourth of five children to Kermit and Wanda (Cookie) Reese, Sharon enjoyed an active childhood playing softball. Her father, Kermit, was an area softball coach, and sports became a family affair for Sharon and her siblings. Sharon’s older brother, Walter Hays, was a popular football player with the class of 1976. Sharon’s younger sister, Arlene Reese Sutton, was a member of the 1985 girls track team and was inducted into the Bartlesville Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. Sharon and her siblings are third generation Bartians, as her grandparents also resided and worked in the community.

Four years after graduating high school in 1980, Sharon joined the U.S. Navy and was on active duty from 1984 to 2004. She was stationed in Washington State for five years, then spent 15 years stationed in San Diego, California. She has one adult son, Dwight Jenkins II.

Sharon is an active member of Spirit Church and enjoys sharing their community focus of selfless giving. She has also had the recent honor of being selected as the first African American female board member of Arvest Bank in Bartlesville and looks forward to the opportunity to be a part of their organization. Sharon is a current newlywed, having recently married Charles McGlory in June of this year.

After Sharon’s retirement from the military in 2004, she worked at the VA hospital in Oklahoma City, in the social services department homeless program. She was the supportive coordinator for veterans with severe mental illness. She had many veterans on her caseload, but time only allowed her attention to focus on those with severe mental illness. This trend was unsettling to Sharon, as she desired to be able to help all veterans find the care and services they needed.

Due to the struggle within her, Sharon resigned from the VA in 2011 and started her own non-profit, Veterans Connection Organization. This allows her to focus on assisting all veterans, rather than only those with the most severe needs. As a disabled veteran herself, Sharon is equipped with the compassion and care required to empathize with other veterans in need. She relates to their situation and strives to help them live a better life.

In 2018, Sharon retired from her job with Housing and Urban Development to focus on her non-profit venture full time. This also entailed a God-directed move back home to Bartlesville from Oklahoma City. It had been over three decades since she had lived in Bartlesville, but hearing the Lord speak to her heart, she knew it was time. She clearly recalls God telling her that she was coming to Bartlesville to change the minds of others, and to change the landscape of Bartlesville. She

Sharon Reese-McGlory, seated in the center, with her mom and siblings

moved her entire non-profit to the area, settled in, and began paying it forward to her community.

The need in the Washington, Osage, and Nowata County area is great for veteran assistance. It is estimated that 5,000 to 6,000 veterans reside in the area. Veterans Connection Organization improves the quality of life for veterans by connecting them with area services to meet their specific needs, whether it be housing, medical, food, utility assistance, or any other obstacle they may face. Sharon is a true advocate for all those she works with, persevering until the need is met. They are connected with Oklahoma Veteran Alliance, which selected Veterans Connection Organization to be a connection point for veterans in the Northeast Oklahoma area.

Sharon feels a sense of accomplishment every time a veteran’s need is met. She has tackled some difficult tasks, such as assisting veterans to receive disability benefits — often taking over a year for approval. It is rewarding to her soul to overcome an obstacle and assist the veteran in bringing more income to their household. Sharon sees the need to make the public aware that we have a very vibrant veteran community here in Bartlesville, noting that it is often overlooked in our area.

Sharon would like to be remembered in Bartlesville as a pacesetter that has come back to follow in the footsteps of the local African American trailblazers, to let the younger generations know their pacesetters are still around and now it’s time to come back and pay it forward to our community. She encourages others to “reach out and grab the world, it’s here for us to grab, and put effort into it and know that nothing is impossible.” Sharon acknowledges that her family’s accomplishments in sports encouraged her greatly and left her some big shoes to fill.

Every human being deserves to have quality of life, and there is always room to improve. Sharon’s heart for our veterans is an inspiration to us all, setting an example of how to love our veterans well. She has earned the lasting gratitude of our community for her military service, and for her daily sacrifice of care and concern for the brave men and women who have served our country.