Sharon Prickett

Our mom, Sharon Kay Prickett, passed away peacefully on May 15, 2024, at Prairie Senior Cottages (her home for the past three years) surrounded by her daughters.  Many of her favorite people came to sit with her in the days before.

Sharon was born on March 23, 1942 in Minneapolis to June and Gene Beriou.  They raised her and two younger sisters, Candy and Claudia, in Northeast Minneapolis. She enjoyed many hours in the garage with her dad learning about auto repair and, over the years, was often consulted by her girls long after they were out of the house and on their own. She attended and graduated from Edison High School in Minneapolis and spent some years working as a candy striper and then a bank teller.

In 1968, Sharon married Bob (Tony) Prickett and they had the first of three daughters. They moved to the house at 307 N. Birch in 1973, where she raised the girls while running a home daycare center.  She taught her children patience and kindness, was a calm presence and it wasn’t often that we saw her rattled. This is probably why animals were drawn to her, and she loved them in return. There were often strays at the house that she nursed back to health, including a rabbit, baby ducks, a squirrel, and even a monkey.  She especially loved horses…learning about them, drawing them, and riding whenever she had the chance.

She and Bob attended almost every sporting event their children participated in and took the girls on memorable camping trips along their scenic drives.  On our trips to the lake, she preferred being our bathing beauty (she could rock a swimsuit!) on the boat while we swam. On an especially hot day she surprised us by jumping in. We didn’t know she could swim! Dad always said we got our athletic abilities from her.

As empty nesters, Bob and Sharon developed a passion for genealogy. They spent many weekends visiting cemeteries and county courthouse across the midwest. After Bob’s passing in 2009, Sharon dove deeper into researching their lineage. She could often be found pouring over paperwork with a new discovery weekly. She had an avid love of learning and researching on her computer, was extremely tech savvy and loved to problem solve.  What she didn’t know how to do, she would figure out, long before Youtube.

As a daycare mom, Sharon helped to raise more than 70 kids, over 40 years and multiple generations.  Many of these kids have stayed in her life long after they were in her care. When she retired from Prickett’s Daycare, she became part of a collie rescue society and showered her love on the foster dogs in her home. She had always owned collies, but she inherited a little dog, Rosie, who became her loving companion. She was very fortunate to bring Rosie with her when she moved to her memory care home. 

The staff at Prairie Senior Cottages loved them both like family and filled her final years with comfort and meaning until the effects of Alzheimer's/Dementia took her.  We are very appreciative of the love and care given both of them. Rosie will be staying at the cottages as the cottage pet. As mom would say, “Everyone loves Rosie, because Rosie loves everyone!”

We remember her happiest being barefoot.  Barefoot on their boat where she spent many hours working on beautifying the old wood, barefoot on the beach on the Mississippi River island where they often beached their boat, barefoot picking berries and harvesting the vegetables they grew. Or just barefoot at her table, sitting and listening to someone who needed an ear.  The coffee was always on and the door was always open. 

Sharon is survived by her sister Claudia (Tom) Jacob of Isle, MN ; daughters Tanya (Jon) Korta of Talkeetna, AK; Tara (Brian) Guimont of Cambridge, MN; Trisha Esmailka of Talkeetna, AK; grandchildren Dylan, Kaleb, Kiana, Kylie, Brynna, Ian and Lily.  Sharon was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Prickett; sister, Candy Beriou-Hanf; and parents, June and Gene Beriou.

A celebration of Sharon’s life will be held on May 21, 2024 at 6 pm at Carlson-Lillemoen Funeral Home 311 S. Ashland St. Cambridge, MN.  Visitation one hour prior.  Private interment at Cambridge Union Cemetery.

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