IN MEMORIAM: Suzanne E. Wart, 71;

Farmer’s Wife Devoted To Large Family

COOPERSTOWN – Suzanne E. Wart, 71, who farmed with her husband on Christian Hill Road, Town of Otsego, and raised five daughters there, died peacefully on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, surrounded by her family.

Born Feb. 11, 1948, in Cooperstown, Suzanne was the only child of Corlis and Joyce (Coleman) Sharp. She grew up on Glen Avenue in the village literally across the street from the “old high school” from which she graduated in the Class of 1966.

She married Lowell Wart in the Fly Creek United Methodist Church on Aug. 17, 1968. She would often say that she had fallen in love with Lowell the first time she saw him unloading railroad cars on Railroad Avenue when she was just 14. A true “native and local” couple, they would go on to happily share more than 50 years of married life together on their Christian Hill Road farm.

Suzanne and Lowell would have five girls, Katrina, Melissa, Jennifer, Laurel and Corlissa, all of whom continue to live within “walking distance” of the family farm. Suzanne relished being a mom and more recently a grandmother and great-grandmother. For her, nothing was more important than family.

Never one to sit idle, she loved to garden (flowers and vegetables) knit, sew, crochet, study ancestry, read books of every genre, listen to country music, Elvis and The Beatles, do jigsaw puzzles, have tea time with anyone who wished to join her and watch “Days of Our Lives” with Aunt Audrey.

She was patient “to a fault” and could always find an enjoyable way to entertain herself and others. She loved life on the farm, so much so that she named and more remarkably remembered the name of virtually every single one of the family’s several hundred cows.

Her love and kind nature were so pervasive that no one in the family or her ever expanding circle of friends could ever feel unloved by her. Indeed, her children will never forget her nurturing and unselfish nature or their trips together, especially their Mother’s Day trips out to dinner.

Suzanne worked for many years in the cafeteria at Cooperstown Elementary School, enjoyed every one of the children she met there and got to know them all by name. Again, her loving, kind and giving nature was infectious.

Suzanne is survived by her husband, Lowell; her five daughters, Katrina Wart (Sean White), Melissa Rathbun (Scott), Jennifer Phillips (Randy), Laurel Wilsey (Frank) and Corlissa Card (Rickie); 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers-in-law, Hank Wart, Charlie Wart (Jill), and Everett Pashley and sisters-in-law, Belle Ashline, Audrey Winnie and Lois Thayer; as well as by a long list of nieces and nephews, each of whom held a special place in her heart.

The family will be in attendance 2 to 5 p.m., Saturday, April 27, to receive friends at the Tillapaugh Funeral Home, 28 Pioneer St., Cooperstown. Funeral services at the funeral home will follow the visiting hours at 5 p.m. with the Rev. Thomas LeBeau, pastor of the Cooperstown United Methodist Church, officiating. Burial will be in the family graveyard on the family’s farm.

For those who so desire, the family suggests donations in Suzanne’s memory to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Jimmy Fund Organization, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168.