John Sherman Mills

1909 - 2011

Sherm Mills (John Sherman Mills) passed into eternity on October 24, 2011, leaving behind a gracious legacy of family devotion and community service in his beloved cities of Edmonds and Shoreline, Washington.

Born on April 5, 1909 Sherm ventured to Seattle from Oklahoma when he was 19 years old. At that time he began working in his aunt's flower shop, Dalhialand, and soon thereafter met and fell in love with Francine Haines. They were married in 1936.

Sherm developed a severe allergy to floral materials and his physician directed him to terminate his career as a florist. An avid salt water fisherman, he enlisted in the Coast Guard. During the Second World War the family run Haines Wharf, one of the largest sports fishing centers on Puget Sound, was converted into a waterfront Coast Guard Station. Sherm was assigned there along with his brother-in-law, Jim. Their intimate knowledge of the waterways of Puget Sound was invaluable in providing security for strategic, war-related maritime traffic.

After the war Sherm built a house in Meadowdale, where he raised his two children. He later opened Mills Marina on 172nd Street at Aurora Avenue North in Shoreline. Upon his retirement Sherm and Francine went traveling around the country and the world. They were married for 72 years before Francine passed away in August of 2008. Their last years were enriched by the new friends and wonderful staff of Sunrise of Edmonds. The affectionate commitment he showed to Francine and to his children over the decades was apparent to all. He will also be remembered for involvement in community organizations, such as the Lions Club, Boy Scouts, Meadowdale Community Club and Edmonds Methodist Church.

Sherm possessed an unsurpassed gift for trivia, especially about geography and history. He also harbored an uncanny sense of humor. At age 100 when he was named Senior Prom King of the Edmonds-Woodway High School DECA senior prom, for example, he suggested tongue-in-cheek that he himself could personally provide dancing instructions to his grandson Byron. Always with a joke on his lips, old timers will remember some of his eyebrow raising tales concocted during the phenomenal days of salmon fishing in the briny waters off Edmonds and Whidbey Island in the '40's and '50's. Sherm also had an incredibly amazing talent for carving wood, as well as playing the harmonica.

Sherm is survived by son, John Sherman Mills, Jr. , Hercules, CA; daughter Jan Hansen and her husband, Ron, Shoreline; grandchildren, Stephanie Hansen, Byron Hansen and his wife Cyndi, and Karen Greeley and her husband Greg, parents of his three great grandchildren, Megan, Katie, and Julia Greeley.