BRANDON — Gertrude Margaret Sherwood, age 85, passed away Saturday, August 6, 2022, surrounded by her loving family, at her home in Brandon.
Gertrude was born in Rutland on August 19, 1936. She was the daughter of Raymond and Marguerite (Stearns) Tatro. She grew up in Rutland, where she received her education and graduated from Mount St. Joseph, class of 1954.
On July 3, 1954, she married the love of her life, Stanley Sherwood, in the Baptist Church in Rutland. They made their home in Ridgefield Park, Nj, for many years.
You can take the girl out of Vermont, but you can’t take Vermont out of the girl, it’s been said, and so, they moved to Brandon in 1967 until retiring to Fort Pierce, Fl, in 1995, only to return once again to Brandon in 2003.
She was noted as the first woman member of the Brandon Area Rescue Squad, where she also served as a training officer. She went on to further use her first aid skills as ski patrol at High Pond Ski Area.
She belonged to St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Brandon, where she served on the Altar Guild and as a Eucharistic Minister.
She loved her family dearly and was a professional homemaker and activities director for them. She kept them busy with activities like snow skiing and water skiing, and she became proficient at these sports as a result. Her expert water skiing abilities were such that she participated in water skiing tournaments.
When Stan opened an engineering firm, she jumped in as a secretary and trained to be a draftsman.
She loved all children and enriched many young lives by volunteering her time as a Sunday School teacher, Girl Scout leader, and ski school Instructor.
She expressed her creative side through sewing, needlepoint, and crochet. But her greatest expression was through her poetry, for which an international poetry group recognized her.
She is survived by her husband Stan of Brandon; her daughters Carol Gertrude Houle of Brandon and her husband Donald, and Barbara Ann Hamilton of Jensen Beach, Fl and her husband Mark; and son Stanley R. Sherwood of Brandon and his wife, Tamara. Four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren also survive her.
The funeral service will be held on Monday, August 15, 2022, at 10 a.m; at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Brandon. The Rev. Lyn Burns, interim Rector, will officiate.
Following the service, the family will receive friends and family at the Brandon Inn for a celebration of life.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Brandon Area Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 232, Brandon, VT 05733, or VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region VT.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Miller & Ketcham Funeral Home in Brandon.
