April 17, 1926 – August 25, 2021

Boyd Morrison SHERMAN of Merritt, BC, born April 17, 1926 on the family homestead near Melita, Manitoba, passed away, gently, surrounded with the love of his family in Kamloops, BC on August 25, 2021 at the age of 95.

Survived by his loving wife of 70 years, Alice; son Bo and his wife Cathy Cormack of Longview, Alberta; daughters Darlene Danis and her husband John of Penticton, BC; Sandy Price and her husband Lyn of Merritt, BC; Lexi Sherman of Lower Nicola, BC; Kerry Escobedo of Vernon, BC and Allison Semenoff and her husband Gary of Kamloops, BC. Also survived by 13 grandchildren, Amanda (Cory) Kuromi and Jake Sherman; Daniel (Lori) Danis and Paige Danis; Anthony Price, Alicia (Ben) Ashcroft, Matthew (Lana) Price and Mark (Chloe) Price: David, Kolby and Riley Clark; Ainsley (Jeremy) Venasse and Carter Semenoff and 7 great grandchildren.

He is also survived by many nieces and nephews, as well as numerous friends and relatives.

He is predeceased by his father Edward Sherman, his loving mother Grace Bates, brothers Dean and Beverly Sherman and his sister Marion Massey. He lived on the homestead until the age of 6 when the family came west. They arrived in Vancouver and then moved to Gibson’s Landing during the war years. In his early years he developed an interest in hunting and fishing and continued this the rest of his life. At age 14 he set out on his own path and ended up in Kamloops. He had many jobs over the years but he started at Vickers Dairy; in 1945 he joined Douglas Lake Cattle Company as a cowboy. During this period of his life he competed in rodeos – in saddle bronc, steer decorating, calf roping and bull riding. He loved rodeo and made lifelong friends. It was also at this time he met and married Alice. In 1952, he worked with Mannix on the pipeline construction that came through Merritt. In 1954, he went back to doing what he loved – cowboying – at the 105 Ranch. In 1955, he worked at the Willow Ranch. In 1959, he took on a new challenge and went to Fairmeade Farms in Langley, where he was responsible for the entire thoroughbred racehorse operation. In 1968, he managed R.J. Bennett Racehorse Farm in Westbank. In 1970, he made a decision to leave his passion of horses to provide financial security for his family by moving to Merritt where he worked as an equipment operator for a number of companies and eventually retiring from Norgaard Redi-Mix in 1991. At this time, he was able to return to his passion of horses and spent his entire retirement life back cowboying and raising thoroughbred horses alongside his son, Bo.

This is the best we could gather from Dad over the years because he was a man who never looked back – only forward. He was modest about his achievements, and there were many. His most significant was that he was a great husband and a wonderful dad, grandad and great grandad. He was a loyal friend, had a wicked sense of humour, was a gifted story teller, was compassionate and loved a good game of cards. He loved life!

Rest easy Cowboy, your entry fees are paid!

Thank you to the nurses and care aides of Merritt Home and Community Care and the nurses and staff at Overlander Extended Care Hospital. These people were so kind to our family and we truly appreciate it.

A Celebration of his life will be announced at a later date when COVID restrictions are eased.

On-line condolences and more detail of Boyd’s life story will be available at www.MerrittFuneralChapel.com

Arrangements entrusted to Merritt Funeral Chapel.

• Date : 2021-08-25
• Location : Merritt