James Sherrill Grogan

James Sherrill Grogan

December 15, 1938 - April 29, 2025

Sacramento, California

James Sherrill Grogan, a graphic designer, percussionist, furniture whisperer, and dog lover, passed away peacefully on April 29, 2025, in Sacramento, California. He was 86.

Born in Murray, Kentucky, to Vera Christine Page and James Gilbert Grogan, Sherrill was raised in Detroit and graduated from Cooley High School in 1957. Inspired by his uncle and hero, U.S. Air Force Colonel Garnet Daryl Page, he joined the U.S. Air Force Security Service. He served in air-to-ground communications, helped organize the First Okinawa Jazz Festival, and performed Afro-Cuban percussion-igniting a lifelong rhythm that echoed through the rest of his life.

After his military service, Sherrill became an air traffic controller at Idlewild Airport (now JFK), where he met the late Isabelle Armstrong of Paisley, Scotland. They married and had two children: Christine Grogan Taylor of Nashville, Tennessee, and David Grogan of Bath, Maine.

Realizing the creative world was calling louder than the control tower, Sherrill returned to Detroit to study at the Society of Arts and Crafts (now the College for Creative Studies). His design career flourished, taking him back to New York where he worked for a variety of top-tier advertising agencies and for L'Oréal.

In 1973, he married Phoebe Yen. Together, they raised two children, Parker Grogan and Yasmin Grogan. He was the kind of dad who ferried Parker to martial arts classes and danced barefoot in the rain with Yasmin just because it felt right.

The family lived in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, where he founded Furniture Rescuer in 1983. He loved working with his hands and had a gift for restoring well-loved antiques to their former beauty. He was especially good at rescuing fine woodwork-often salvaging forgotten pieces from the curb. His work was quiet, soulful, and lasting.

Sherrill also specialized in creating artwork featuring jazz musicians-bold, expressive pieces that celebrated the music he loved. His work was exhibited in shows, where it captured the rhythm and spirit that pulsed through both his art and his life.

He ran the company until 2006, then continued his work in Orinda, California, until retiring to Sacramento in 2018.

Sherrill was a man of deep curiosity and many talents. He played congas and trap drums in Greenwich Village bands, restored furniture with reverence and precision, volunteered with the local ambulance service, and found joy in the ritual of vinyl records and a good glass of Scotch. His humor was dry, his stories layered, and his timing-both musical and comedic-impeccable. He told the truth sideways and made people laugh without ever trying too hard.

He had a deep affection for dogs, none more than Ripley, his devoted German Shepherd, whose quiet sensitivity and gentleness mirrored the best parts of himself.

He is survived by his wife, Phoebe Yen; his children Christine, David, Parker, and Yasmin; seven grandchildren; and countless people from Scotland to Japan who carry memories and stories of him-told with a smile, a shake of the head, and deep affection.