Sharon Diran

Sharon Lucille Diran, of Bridgton, renowned Realtor and one of the smartest, fiercest women in town, passed away on Monday, August 6, 2018, after battling cancer.

She was 74, and is survived by her children, Maria Diran and Jason Diran and his wife Tonya Alblas and granddaughter Hazel Sharon Alblas-Diran; her two brothers, Jeff Preble and Brian Preble and Brian’s wife Patty Preble; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Sharon was raised in humble beginnings, by working class folk in Gray, by her father James Herbert Preble and her mother Harriet Preble. Her father was in World War II, and her mother Harriet raised her and her brother Brian together with my Auntie Lil while their husbands were away at war. They were exceptional women themselves, but they hardly thought that women should do more than be wives. My mom completely disagreed with this notion. She convinced her father and mother to let her go to college, even though they only thought college was a place to find a husband. Sharon knew it was something else though: independence, and the opening of the whole world to her.

She graduated with a degree in political science and traveled to Europe. Sharon became a teacher at Fryeburg Academy and taught there for 15 years. She married and had two children. Once she became a single mother, she needed a job that provided more financial freedom. She became a Realtor in 1980 and was Realtor of the Year in 1988 for the Western Maine Board of Realtors. For the last 24 years, she was co-owner of RE/MAX at the Lakes with Carole Goodman, and prior to that she was co-owner of ERA Foster Associates with Susan Searles-Gazza. She served as president for the Western Maine Board of Realtors and was consistently honored for being a top sales agent every year.

Not only was Sharon the Designated Broker for her Office, aka person of knowledge, many other Realtors and Designated Brokers would call Sharon for her expertise and advice. As many have said, “She knew everything.” A colleague of my Mom's said that when she had a particular problem with a real estate transaction and was worried that she had made a mistake, she’d go into my mom’s office and tell her the situation. This colleague, being a top sales agent herself, said that when my mom would tell her, “You have done nothing wrong, you do not need to back down and you are absolutely in the right,” this gave her the utmost confidence to go back to the table and state her case. She said just knowing that Sharon Diran agreed with her gave her all the confidence she needed to know she was doing her job right.

Sharon loved eating gourmet meals, drinking wine and staying up late into the night talking politics, philosophy and education with her daughter. She loved traveling with her son, and teaching her granddaughter to eat a lobster. Those were some of the best times of our lives and we will miss you forever, Mum! We love you!

Jay and Maria invite you to come see the Remembrance of Sharon at Carole and Forrest Goodman's house (bless their hearts) and find out. More stories will be told and we ask of you to bring your own stories to share either in writing or in person. There are so many people that respected my mother, and Jay and I have lived such incredible lives and are not afraid of truth, pain or awkwardness, and we are ready to share the full life of our mother. Please come to 1214 North High St., Bridgton, at 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15. Hors d’oeuvres and light refreshments will be served.