He was my close friend, but I never met him in person. He was Sherman Shifflett and he passed away unexpectedly this week. He had a had a run-in with prostate cancer, but nothing life threatening. He just went peacefully in the night.
I first got to know Sherman soon after I started posting CvilleBuzz. He responded to one of my articles, we hit it off and I can’t tell you how many times we have connected by e-mail.
After it was clear that we had many common interests, we both agreed that we should meet one day at Floozie’s Pie Shop in Louisa, be we never got around to it.
Through my writings and his responses, I learned of his love and appreciation for education. He worked as a teacher, administrator, coach, and member of the school board for the Louisa County Public Schools for 53 years. I also discovered we had a mutual friend, Hank Norton, the legendary football coach at Ferrum College. Sherman played for Hank in the late 50’s. Lots of kids couldn’t make it through Norton’s Spartan football practices, but Sherman did. Later, Sherman transferred and graduated from East Tennessee State University, then joined the Army and served two years during the Vietnam Conflict. When he left the service, Sherman returned to his beloved Louisa County, earned a master’s degree from UVA and began his storied career in education.
Through our correspondence, I discovered his love for hunting and the great outdoors. Some of his fondest memories were of hunting deer on several leased properties. He wrote me lengthy accounts of his hunts, many ending in “The deer that got away.”
I found out that he enjoyed cooking and we shared many recipes. He thought my Blueberry Stuff was out of sight and made it for many school board meetings.
Sherman loved birds. He spoke fondly of a whippoorwill that made an evening house call just two summers ago. He loved to travel with his special lady, Ava Pippin, and with each of his ventures, he wrote to me to advise for or against them and what to see and do if I ever went.
He enjoyed taking Ava out to dinner and lunches throughout the state. On many occasions they hopped in the car and drove over two hours to eat at Lowery’s Seafood in Tappahannock. He had played football with one of the family owners.
Sherman was an excellent writer and published a great book, “Remembering a Blue Ridge Mountain Father” in 2019. He told me he was surprised at how many folks liked and bought his books.
Sherman was also a rock-solid conservative and a great defender of the 2ndAmendment. He didn’t have much use for liberal politicians. Nor did I.
Sherman loved to garden and frequently sent me seeds with instructions on planting them. He loved his chickens and being around them. He said one time, “I didn’t care about the eggs. I just love to be around my chickens.” He wore his heart on his sleeve. You always knew where he stood.
He was incredibly generous. If he saw apple butter at a local church sale, he would buy an extra jar and send it to me in the mail. He sent me bottles of Koss BBQ sauce and any books that he through worth reading. He sent me a hand-made knife that one of his friends had crafted.
He would have been 80 on April 13. He was my dear friend, but we never met face to face. At least, not yet.