William Richard Sharpe Jr. (October 28, 1928 – February 16, 2009) was a Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate, representing the 12th district.
He is the longest-serving State Senator in West Virginia history, with a career of over 44 years.
In 1994, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources opened a new 150 bed acute care psychiatric facility to replace the old Weston State Hospital.
In 2000 a new Civil Air Patrol facility was built at Charleston's Yeager Airport and it too was named in Sharpe's honor.
In January 2007, Sharpe underwent a 10-hour surgery to treat what doctors called a giant aneurysm.