Charles Sharrow says he is proud to give back to St. Clair County Community College for the education and opportunities it provided him throughout his life.

Sharrow, 95, of Port Huron has more than 70 years of involvement with SC4 as a student, leader and donor.

His first experience was as a student. Sharrow graduated from St. Stephen’s High School in 1932 and attended SC4, then known as Port Huron Junior College. He graduated from the junior college in 1935.

Sharrow chose the college because it was close and economical.

“That was the height of the Great Depression,” he said. “The idea was to get started with a college education and be able to live at home.”

After the junior college, he transferred to the University of Detroit, where he attended night school to earn his certificate in accounting.

Sharrow joined Detroit Edison in 1934 while he still attended the junior college. He retired 40 years later as manager of the company’s Port Huron office. In retirement, Sharrow worked at O’Connor Realty and Moak Real Estate.

He got involved with the college again while working at Detroit Edison, when he was given an opportunity to help steer the college’s future.

In 1961, Port Huron Junior College was still under the umbrella of the Port Huron Area School District.

Sharrow was asked by junior college Dean James Browning to be on a local committee called Future Plans for Port Huron Junior College.

The college was growing during that period, and the committee’s directive was simple: “Our job was to decide should (the college) go outside of town and start a new community college, or should we try to extend it in Port Huron.”

Sharrow said his choice, to stay within Port Huron, was shared by other committee members.

They had two main reasons for keeping the college in Port Huron. First, students could find better job opportunities in downtown Port Huron. Second, the college could use McMorran Place’s theatre facilities until the college built its own.

Sharrow said that committee made the right choice nearly 50 years ago, as evidenced by how SC4 has developed.

“I grew up with the college. I saw the college grow and was on the committee to have it stay where it is,” he said. “It’s an honor to see the college grow like we thought it should.”

A local history buff, Sharrow has not only been active in SC4’s past but in America’s past, too. He served in the U.S. Army from 1941 through 1946 and was stationed at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked Dec. 7, 1941.

Sharrow said SC4 gave him more than an education. It gave him the opportunity to meet his future wife, Evelyn.

They met one day at her locker between classes. The meeting turned from a friendship into a marriage that lasted 65 years. She passed away in 2006.

The Sharrows were active members of the SC4 Alumni Association. His wife was a lifetime advocate for education and students, Sharrow said. Through the SC4 Foundation, he established the Evelyn Sharrow Memorial Scholarship, which annually awards three scholarships of $1,000 each to SC4 students.

“A scholarship to help kids would be right up her line,” Sharrow said. “I love it. I feel like I’m helping the kids.”