Honoring a Legacy of Service By Becky O’Guin, CDA Director of Communications
From the Spring 2024 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association
Defined not only by herself, but by her coworkers and colleagues, Sharyn Markus’ 48-year career at the Colorado Springs Dental Society (CSDS) has been a true labor of love and a tale of epic proportions, but alas retirement has come.
Despite “retiring” on May 31, Sharyn doesn’t have any intention of slowing down—she volunteers as a board member at Mission Medical Center, is looking forward to more dental mission trips and visiting other countries and plans to travel domestically as a companion and driver for a friend. In addition, she is the vice president of The Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance, and a member of Austin Bluffs Sertoma, the Shivers Fund Committee, and Alpha Delta Kappa (a sorority for teachers to help other teachers).
“I like working for the daily structure, social interactions, a sense of purpose and mental sharpness,” Sharyn says.
Not only has Sharyn given her heart to dentistry, but she has poured a lifetime of love into being an educator. She was a teacher for the Academy School District 20 from 1977 to 2009, while simultaneously working part-time for the El Paso Medical Society and CSDS. When she retired from teaching, she went full-time with CSDS and was promoted to executive director in 1981.
Dr. Tim Stacey, a Colorado Springs general dentist, said Sharyn never missed a meeting. “She is always the first person to arrive and the last person to leave.”
Dr. Stacey, who is a past CSDS president, said that he and a few other colleagues purposely volunteered one year because they wanted to make sure they could work with Sharyn.
When Sharyn started with CSDS she had an electric typewriter and a Macintosh (aka Apple) computer. She says the office now has two computers and a laptop. In the 70s, there were about 210 dentists practicing in the Pikes Peak region and most of them were CSDS members. Now there are over 600 dentists.
Giving back is as natural as breathing to Sharyn and is an integral part of who she is. She has volunteered on dental mission trips since 2005 and continues today. She started the Paper Clip Campaign (paperclipcampaign.net/history-of-the-paperclip-campaign) to honor Holocaust victims, volunteers with the Colorado Mission of Mercy and Give Kids a Smile Day and was a trained Colorado Springs Reserve Police Officer for four years.
Rev. Zelna Joseph, interim executive director of Mission Medical Center, has worked with Sharyn since 2012 and they have become closer through their work. “She is one of the hardest working people I have ever met.” Mission Medical Center provides health and wellness services to the uninsured and underserved in the Pikes Peak region.
“To work in Sharyn’s position for as long as she has takes endurance,” Zelna said. “You have to be someone who is politically savvy.”
Sharyn has experienced many changes over her 48-year career at CSDS from fluoride in and out of the water supply, advertising restrictions disappearing, practice modalities changing and practice scope expanding across the profession.
“The amount of historical knowledge Sharyn has is invaluable,” said CDA Executive Director Molly Pereira. “She has been a true ambassador for the Colorado dental profession. As an incredibly humble person, Sharyn has tirelessly given to this organization and her community. She works both “on stage” and in the shadows and never expects or demands recognition for everything she has achieved. She does it for the dentists and for the health of her community. It’s inspiring.”
A pioneer herself, she has seen more women and minorities practicing dentistry now than ever before. “When I first started, there were no women dentists practicing here,” Sharyn said. “The only lady dentist in town was Dr. Virginia Trembly who had retired by 1976.” That changed when Dr. Mary Purnish opened her practice in the 1980s.
Sharyn hopes that organized dentistry grows and says that more dentists are realizing the value and return on investment of being members of the tripartite (CSDS, CDA and ADA). She would like to see a dental display at the Children’s Museum in Colorado Springs, and she hopes more dentists accept Medicaid and Medicare.
Over the years, she has enjoyed working with the “kindest, most genuine dentists and staff who all want what is best for patients.” She says that being the executive director was part of her desire to provide the best for dentists so they could provide what is best for their patients.
Community outreach has been one of her greatest pleasures working at CSDS. Years ago, dentists used to visit schools during Children’s Dental Health Month and CSDS would provide materials for them to handout and use for education. CSDS also used to hire a “tooth fairy” to visit schools during Children’s Dental Health month. Today, dentists all over the Pikes Peak region participate in Operations Gratitude/Halloween Candy Buy-Back, where dentists drop off candy to CSDS and it is donated to Fort Carson where it is distributed to soldiers and sent overseas.
In typical Sharyn fashion, she is not leaving until she makes sure the new CSDS executive director, who started on April 1, is onboarded and acclimated to take care of the dental society that she has built over nearly five decades.
The void Sharyn leaves behind is vast but the only thing bigger is her fan base cheering her on to the next chapter. Thank you for everything, Sharyn!