1955 - 2022
HARTWICK – Dwaine R. Sharratt, who owned and operated Beaver Valley Campground with his wife, Juli, and their children, passed away Saturday morning, November 19, 2022, at his home in the Town of Hartwick from the neurodegenerative disorder Multiple System Atrophy. At the age of 67, he has now completed the final pages of the book of his life.
Born October 6, 1955, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dwaine was the son of Lloyd Donald Sharratt and Veronica “Ronnie” Louise (Justin) Sharratt.
He was raised in Richfield, Minnesota, and graduated from Richfield High School in 1974. He captained his high school gymnastics team, played football from peewee through high school, and played baseball from tee-ball well into adulthood.
He attended Stout University in Wisconsin and then lived in Mississippi helping with his sister’s young family and farm while his brother-in-law was ill. He then moved to Washington State where he learned the skills of home construction and hobby farming while volunteering with children who had physical and learning disabilities. In Washington, he met his future wife, Juli, who asked him for a ride
to Massachusetts. They arrived there in the summer of 1980 and Dwaine and Juli married in August 1983.
In 1988, they purchased Beaver Valley Campground and developed it into a highly-rated family memory-maker. He took great pleasure in maintaining and developing the campground. In 1991, they started Cooperstown Baseball Camp, an overnight training camp for kids.
Dwaine especially loved taking care of his baseball fields and would often be found prepping the fields with detail and love between games. His fondness for the game, and his encouragement of younger players, was evident when he donated the use of the Little League field at the campground to Cooperstown Youth Baseball when they found themselves with no place to play after their home field was closed.
Each spring for 20 years, Dwaine was the clean-shaven Mr. Sharratt who helped
teach gymnastics at the Clark Sports Center. Each winter he was the full-bearded, wild-haired Dad at Badger Park playing hockey with the kids.
Dwaine was definitely a “road less traveled” kind of person. He was full of antics and imagination and would do just about anything to make someone laugh.
Dwaine was a relentless doer and a heartfelt giver. Whether it was bringing his generator around to local farms and homes when they lost power during the tornado in the 1990s or clearing a friend’s sewer line from the septic tank end, he was not afraid to get dirty or to work long hours.
Above all, Dwaine was in love with his family.
Dwaine is survived by his wife of 39 years, Juli (Kaczynski) of Hartwick, and their four children, Nathan Sharratt and wife, Mona Collentine of Marietta, Georgia, Caley Sharratt and husband, Tristan (Davis-Fralick) Sharratt, Jamie (Sharratt) Dobrovolc and wife, Allison Dobrovolc, and Nicholas Sharratt, all of Hartwick. He leaves three grandchildren, Elsie, Westley and Wren, and his siblings, Michael Sharratt and Kat Kitt, Chip Sharratt and wife, Julie Kelley, Kenneth Sharratt and wife, Christine, Yvonne Stelberg, and brother-in-law, Duane Christopher, all of Minnesota; his best friend since the age of 7, Mitchell Hayle of Vermont; and several nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his father, Lloyd, who died in 2001, his mother, Ronnie, who died in 2004, and his sister, Sharon Christopher, who died in 2021.
Family and friends may call and pay their respects from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, November 30, 2022, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, 82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday, December 1, 2022, at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church, 31 Elm Street, Cooperstown, with Fr. Michael Cambi, pastor, officiating.
Immediately following the Mass, there will be a luncheon at The Farmers’s Museum in Cooperstown. All friends and family are invited.
Interment will be at a later date in Lakewood Cemetery, Cooperstown.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in the form of memorial donations may be made to a charity of your choice.
Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.
If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.
