Former Dispatch executive to be remembered in Friday service
Thomas Boykin Sherrill, III, began his long career delivering the news at age 9, when he started selling magazines in his home state of Florida, then moved quickly to carrying newspapers at age 11.
Before long, he was in charge of making sure that a large carrier force delivered newspapers such as The Dispatch to subscribers and newsstands across the region.
Sherrill, who died in Columbus at age 90 on Sept. 1, was hired as the Dispatch Circulation Director in 1975 and became a member of the newspaper’s board of directors in 1977. He retired from The Dispatch in 1996.
“Tom cared deeply about the essentiality of newspapers, and making sure they were delivered in a timely manner,” said Michael F. Curtin, a former editor and associate publisher of The Dispatch Printing Company.
“Tom was a man of few words,” Curtin said. “He could convey volumes with well-crafted questions. His questions could stop you cold. They were meant to hold you accountable – to your employer, your customers and yourself. He was sent by Central Casting to teach Accountability 101. He did not hand out many A’s.”
During his tenure at The Dispatch, he also was involved in industry trade associations and in the Greater Columbus community.
Sherrill served as chairman of the advisory board of the Salvation Army, a trustee and past chairman of the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio, and a member of the executive board of the Simon Kenton Council of The Boy Scouts of America.
He served as president of the Kiwanis clubs in Columbus, and Tampa and Sarasota, Florida, where he was born, and had 56 years of perfect attendance. He was a member for 45 years and chairman of the administrative board of Northwest United Methodist Church, a member of the president’s advisory council of the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and past president of Wesley Glen retirement center.
After delivering papers for the Tampa Daily Times in his youth, he was hired as a district manager for the paper in 1949, when he graduated from Plant High School in Tampa.
He served in the United States Navy from 1951 to 1956. Tom joined the Tampa Tribune in 1956, and was circulation director for both the Tribune and Daily Times by 1962. He became the circulation director of the Sarasota Heraldtribune and the Sarasota Journal in 1967. And in August of 1975, he was hired at The Dispatch.
He is survived by his wife, Sandra Evans Sherrill; sons and daughters-inlaw, Thomas G. and Heather Sherrill and Stephen A. and Katie Sherrill; grandchildren, Evan, Christian, and Lily Sherrill; and stepsister, Sally Rowlinson.
A celebration of life will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 10, at the outdoor chapel of Northwest United Methodist Church, 5200 Riverside Dr., Upper Arlington, with visitation one hour preceding the service.
Interment will be at a later date in Tampa. Memorial gifts may be made to The Salvation Army in Central Ohio, 966 East Main Street, Columbus, Ohio, 43205, or Kiwanis Club of Columbus, P.O. Box 20334, Columbus, Ohio, 43220.