In Memory of Frank Sherman
I have been in many marinas in my 70 years of sailing, but none has been as interested in helping you as Sherman’s Marina in Deale, on the eastern shore of Rockhold Creek. Seven years ago when I moved my 35-foot Dickerson ketch to Sherman’s Marina, Frank Sherman became more than just my marina owner. He was someone who cared deeply about you and your boat: a real friend.
Sherman’s Marina is a small family marina of some 35 slips with a group of friendly sailors who all look out for each other. Frank could usually be found early in the morning, dressed smartly in his tan navy-type clothes, having coffee at Marina Headquarters with his son Pat, and also Jim, Craig, Rick, Rob and other sailors and helpers. Later in the day, he’d be repairing a building or helping fix a boater’s problem.
Frank was a modest man who joined the Navy at a very young age and took pride every year — even when quite sick — to visit with his World War II shipmates as a Plank Owner of the USS Alabama where he served as bos’n specialist in deep-sea diving submarine rescue in Admiral Bull Halsey’s South Pacific Fleet.
Frank was an example of the Chesapeake’s best. He was fondly known as the mayor of Deale. A New Englander who was a successful businessman in the travel industry, in midlife he found and loved Chesapeake Bay. In his earlier years, he could be found cruising on the Bay with his children in his Bay-built boat Virginia, which he was restoring at the time of his death.
Frank went on his final voyage on October 9, 2012. His legacy of helpful and caring ways will be greatly missed. In his final days, he was surrounded by a loving family of his wife Elizabeth; daughters Kathleen and Elizabeth; and sons Frank Jr. and Pat; and 13 grandchildren and many friends.
Thank you, Frank.
–Joe Slavin, Dickerson Owners Association and Frank’s many Marina Friends