1957 - 2023
HARTWICK – Julianne (Juli) Sharratt, 65, who owned Beaver Valley Campground with her late husband, Dwaine, and their children, passed away Friday night, November 3, 2023, at her home in the Town of Hartwick following an unexpected diagnosis of cancer in July 2023.
Born December 11, 1957, in Webster, Massachusetts, Juli was the daughter of Julian Paul (“Peewee”) Kaczynski and Rosemarie (Neeser) Kaczynski. She spent her early years in her father’s barber shop, flying to Florida in his plane, and going to “too many rock concerts.” After high school, she moved across the country to California. It was by serendipity that she met her future husband, Dwaine, on Whidbey Island in Washington State, where she asked this young guy from Minnesota for a ride to Massachusetts and he surprisingly said yes. They arrived there in the summer of 1980 and Juli and Dwaine married in August 1983.
After searching for the perfect place to raise their family, the couple drove through Cooperstown during Winter Carnival and fell in love with the village. In 1988, the family purchased Beaver Valley Campground, moving from Thompson, Connecticut to their own “piece of paradise.” They worked tirelessly to create a special place for their family and guests to play, dream, and grow. Early campers remember Friday night dances, hayrides, candy bar bingo, haunted houses, Sunday pancake breakfasts, bonfires, clown shows, and many children’s camps with various themes. In 1991, they started Cooperstown Baseball Camp and hosted the Legends of Baseball after building their own “Field of Dreams.” Juli and Dwaine hosted countless fundraisers for neighbors and friends and hosted community events. Juli was described by friends as generous, strong, loving, and “a shining light.”
Juli leaves her 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; and her cherished grandchildren, Elsie, Westley and Wren. She is survived by her Massachusetts family, brother-in-law, Steve, nephew Jason and niece Michelle, cousins, Maryann Otto and Nathalie Champagne, and Aunt Teresa Arter, as well as many members of her chosen Minnesota family. Many dear friends who deeply cared for Juli have been supporting her children during this loss. Juli’s husband of 39 years, Dwaine, passed in November 2022, her father, Peewee in 2014 and her mother, Rosemarie in 2012.
Family and friends may call and pay their respects from 4-6 p.m. Friday, November 10, 2023, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, 82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 11, 2023, at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church, 31 Elm Street, Cooperstown, with Fr. Michael Cambi, pastor, officiating.
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 the Angel Network of Cooperstown, Attn: Matt Monahan, PO Box 1186, Cooperstown, NY 13326.
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.
