John Mercer Sherman

John Mercer Sherman was born in Albany, Georgia on August 20, 1945, to parents Ernestine Walker Sherman and David Mercer Sherman and died Saturday, August 16, 2025. Following his graduation from Albany High School in 1963, John attended the University of Georgia, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He graduated in 1968 and proceeded to earn his MBA with the UGA College of Business.

John was a long-time real estate broker, first with Albany Realty company, later with the Richard Tift Company, eventually founding his own firm, Sherman and Associates. John was active in the Sertoma Club for years, earning the honor "Sertoman of the Year" in 1977-78.

An avid outdoorsman and hunter, he was a member of Quail Unlimited and spearheaded the first Albany Celebrity Quail Hunt. John was a vital force in the success of those events, which became a popular SOWEGA annual occasion, benefiting conservation efforts for decades.

In 1991, he organized the first reunion of the British Royal Air Force members who trained in Albany during WW2, 50 years after they were cadets learning to fly in Georgia skies for combat missions such as the Battle of Britain.

John married his high school sweetheart, Marian Chambless, June 25,1966, and they were married for 56 years. They grew up three blocks apart in Rawson Circle. Both attended Albany High School but never met until, at age sixteen, they enrolled in an oil painting class at Wally Hill's Art Studio. They began dating after the first class.

John was a lifelong member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church while Marian was a devout Baptist. Their first compromise was when she insisted they get married not in the Episcopal Church but in the Methodist Church by a Baptist preacher. (The same Baptist preacher that married her parents.)

John loved the great outdoors, was an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman and a diehard Georgia Bulldogs fan. He passed on that fandom to his sons and grandchildren. John generously gave his time and efforts to hosting family, friends and new hunters on the family's timberland in Early County, Georgia. He delighted in sharing his passion for hunting with others, living and teaching the principles of land conservation, and spending time in God's creation.

John was a loyal friend, engaged and supportive father, and devoted husband to Marian. John is survived by his two sons: Alden Sherman and his wife, Laura, and their sons, Mercer and Gavin Alden Sherman, of Belleair Bluffs, Florida, and Bryan Sherman and his wife, Jennifer, and their children Katelyn and Aaron Sherman of Raleigh, North Carolina.

He is also survived by his brother, David Sherman, and his wife Martha, brother-in-law Tommy Chambless and his wife, Nancy, of Albany, and three nephews, Sid Chambless, Wayne Chambless, and LtCol Greer Chambless.

Visitation was at St. Paul's Church between 10 and 11 o'clock Monday, August 25, 2025, in the Parish Hall with the funeral service following in the sanctuary at 11 o'clock. There was a private interment at Crown Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, those so inclined may make memorial donations in memory of John Sherman to Samaritan's Purse, P.O. Box 3000, Boone N. C. 28607.

You may sign the online guestbook at www.kimbrellstern.com.