Sherman was born February 12, 1945 in Antigo, WI, son of the late Sherman William Wade, a former member of the Wisconsin State Senate, and Elma Sharpe Wade. Nicknamed “Cubby” in his youth, he attended St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and was later in law school for one year at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. A lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers, Sherman helped fund his college studies by selling beer and hot dogs at Lambeau Field during the team’s Vince Lombardi era in the mid 1960’s.
After a stint as a Captain in the U.S. Army during which he served in Vietnam, Sherman relocated in the early 1970’s to Atlanta, GA, a city which was then experiencing explosive growth in the convention services industry. Sherman and a partner, Carl Mitchell, purchased the former Shepard Decorating Company, a small firm that had originally specialized in dressing windows at department stores in the early 1900’s and later produced the Atlanta film premiere of Gone With the Wind in 1939. Sherman and Carl repurposed the business to concentrate on organizing and equipping conventions at the newly-built Georgia World Congress Center.
Rebranded Shepard Exposition Services, Sherman’s company rode the crest of Atlanta’s booming convention and tourist wave from the 1970’s to the early 2000’s, including the Summer Olympic Games in 1996, to become one of the Southeast’s most respected and prestigious firms within its specialty. Away from the company, Sherman was an avid athlete and outdoorsman: a skier, fisherman and long-distance runner who ran six marathons in his 40’s, including the New York, Boston and London Marathons. He also played infield for the Legends of the Atlanta Senior Men’s Baseball League.
Sherman fostered a lifelong commitment to charitable giving and community service, as evidenced by his involvement with Doctors Without Borders, an organization helping underprivileged people without access to modern medical services in remote places like Mongolia and the Amazon basin in South America.
Much beloved by his extended family, Sherman is survived by his widow, Cheryl Topshe Wade, of Marietta, GA; a sister, Camille Maurice, of Wrightstown, WI; a brother, Stephen Wade, of Portland, OR; a son and daughter by marriage, James Crawford of Macon GA and Charisse Meitin of Alpharetta GA; six grandchildren by marriage, and numerous in-laws.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.
A celebration of Sherman’s life will be held Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. in the Arlington Chapel at HM Patterson & Son, Sandy Springs GA.
