Sharon Gamradt

Sharon V. Gamradt, age 72 of Sauk Centre, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on Monday, September 19, 2022 at her home in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, September 24 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Marvin Enneking officiating. Interment will be in Immaculate Conception Cemetery in New Munich.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose and from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the church. Parish prayers will be held at 7 p.m. Friday evening at the funeral home.

Sharon Veronica Klaphake was born April 27, 1950 in St. Cloud, Minnesota to Mathias and Clara (Toenies) Klaphake. She attended country school two miles northwest of her parent’s farm through the eighth grade and graduated from Melrose High School in 1968. After high school Sharon worked at the Melrose Hospital for a year and a half, then at the Sauk Centre Creamery where she met the love of her life, David Gamradt. She was united in marriage to Dave on December 1, 1973 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in New Munich. Sharon stayed at home and raised her family until the fall of 1995 when she started working at the Sauk Centre Public School. She worked as a substitute paraprofessional for the first few years and eventually took a full-time position, working with special needs children. Sharon worked there 17 years until her retirement in 2019.

Sharon loved dancing, traveling, fishing and going for drives with her husband.  Sharon raised her 5 children with love and patience, developing them into the wonderful adults they are today. Mom would drop everything to spend time with them no matter what they were doing. Nana cherished her grandchildren so much and made time for each of them, nurturing their souls and encouraging their individuality.  Sharon’s special bond with her twin sister Shirley was God’s gift to each other and their families.

Survivors include husband, David Gamradt of Sauk Centre;  children, Naomi (Chris) Kohn of Finlayson, Kathy (Mike) Wolff of Melrose, Joe Gamradt of Fresno, California, Marie (Jay) Haskamp of Melrose, and Erik Gamradt (Trevor Drake) of Minneapolis;  grandchildren, Cooper and Riley Wolff, Jackson, Maggie and Morgan Haskamp, Presley and Jagger Gamradt;  brothers and sisters, Kenny (Dorothy) Klaphake of Freeport, Florian (Doreen) Klaphake of Melrose, Eugene (Nancy) Klaphake of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Shirley (Steve) Worms of New Munich, Steve (Pam) Klaphake of Freeport, and Tom Klaphake of St. Cloud; and step-mother, Rita Klaphake of Melrose.

Sharon was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Harold and Jim Klaphake; sisters-in-law, Betty Klaphake, Norma Karasch; and brother-in-law, Jim Kohorst.