Sherley Ford

Sherley Ford was born on January 30, 1940, to the parents of Junius and Gracie Ford. He was the youngest of seven children: Earnest, Pretlow, Margaret, Henry, Roy, Mildred and Sherley. Their father, Junius, was a peanut farmer who also worked at Planter’s Nut and Chocolate Company where he fixed all of the machinery at the plant as a mill righter. While Junius was at work, his children worked the farm. Their mom, Gracie, died in 1945, when Sherley was five years old. On Gracie’s death bead, she gave Sherley to Mildred to raise who was eight years old at the time. It was on the farm, as they were working, that the Ford children began making their lifelong plans. They remained on the farm until Sherley graduated from East Suffolk High School in 1960, eight months after their father’s death.

After graduation, Sherley joined the U.S. Army where he began to travel the world. His first deployment was to Europe where he discovered other cultures and lifestyles. In 1964, he was based at Fort Lewis, Washington where he met and married Bonnie Faye Harris. In 1965, they welcomed their first child, Antoinette Denise Ford. After her birth, Sherley was deployed to Korea for 13 months. In 1968, Sherley was deployed to Vietnam right after the Tet Offensive which was the most difficult period of that war. Sherley stayed in Vietnam for only six of his twelve month tour due to a collapsed lung from agent orange exposure. He was then medevacked to Japan and then sent back to Fort Lewis.

Sherley was soon sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, and from there to Ft. Wainwright, Alaska where he and Bonnie had a son, Junius Yusef Ford in 1972. Shortly thereafter, Sherley and Bonnie were deployed to Ft. Knox, Kentucky. They embarked on an epic road trip when they decided to drive from Alaska to Kentucky with their 7 year old daughter and 8 month old son along with their dog Pat. From there, he was sent to West Germany for three years where the family enjoyed traveling Europe. Dad proudly served in the U.S. Army for 24 years where he retired out of Fort Lewis, Washington on August 1, 1984. Sherley and Bonnie then purchased a home in Tacoma, Washington and settled into civilian life.

Sherley Ford is survived by his children, Antoinette Pratt and her husband, Sanders Pratt, Yusef Ford and his wife, Melissa Ford and his grandchildren: Noah Pratt, Niyah Pratt, Naomi Ford and Myles Ford.