Obituary
Sharon McNeil Cayelli, 83, of Potomac, Maryland, and more recently of The Villages, Florida, passed away peacefully on October 5, 2025.
Born on April 7, 1942, in Washington, D.C., Sharon spent most of her life in Maryland. She graduated from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, and earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland, where she was a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. Sharon met her husband, Dan, at a sorority dessert, and they wed in 1965.
After college, Sharon taught high school English for several years, the first of her many professional careers. In 1978, she helped elect a congressman to office, turning her basement into the campaign’s nerve center while serving as Volunteer Coordinator. A photo of Sharon working the phones with her young son Don by her side was later featured in the 1980 Democratic National Convention program.
Sharon was a self-taught investor with a savvy instinct for the stock market. In the early 1980s, she secured an interview with EF Hutton and shared her own portfolio’s performance with the regional manager. Impressed, he promptly hired her, and Sharon soon became one of the first women licensed as a stockbroker in the Bethesda office. She began dialing through the local phone directory to build her book of business, and family lore has it that the first call she made converted into a loyal client she served for years.
In the early 1990s, Sharon earned her credentials as a Certified Financial Planner and launched her own independent practice counseling clients on preparing for retirement. This new field combined her investment skills, teaching background, and desire to help others plan for the future, and was a role she enjoyed for many years.
Outside of work, Sharon was a competitive game player who excelled at bridge, crossword puzzles, and Sudoku (always completed in pen). She loved to golf and served for years as membership chair of her Early Birdie ladies’ group. She also volunteered as a Eucharistic minister, hospice angel, and literacy coach at the local detention center. Sharon and Dan enjoyed exploring the world, and visited more than thirty countries together.
Sharon was a devoted wife to Dan for 58 years and an encouraging mother to their two children, Elise (“Lisa”) and Don. She was also a proud grandmother, who coached her grandchildren to pursue advanced education and become their best selves. Her family, along with the many others whose lives she touched, will fondly remember her humor, empathy, and strong moral compass. Sharon was a force in many people’s lives and will be truly missed.
Sharon is predeceased by her husband Dan, her mother Nell Day McNeil, and father Robert McNeil, and is survived by her sister Carol (Frank) Driscoll, daughter Elise (Rick) Wetzel, son Don (Elsa) Cayelli, grandchildren Madison Wetzel (26), Jack Wetzel (25), Daniel Cayelli (25), and Emilia Cayelli (22), nephew Eric Driscoll, nieces Alissa Jacobs and JenniferColosimo.
The family is planning to lay Sharon’s ashes to rest November 15, 2025 in a private service at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her family asks that you tackle a crossword puzzle or Suduko game in her memory. And, if you are so moved, please make a donation to the University of Maryland “Clark Challenge” Scholarship Fund in her memory. Arrangements entrusted with BALDWIN BROTHERS Funeral & Cremation Society-Spanish Springs, 352-430-1449. Sentiments are encouraged at www.baldwincremation.com.
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