"Wow, was sitting here on a Friday night, September 19, 2014, and decided to google one of the people that I admired most in the world, Sensei Sherman Harrill. I saw the caption that said to preserve Sherman's legacy, so I thought I'd start it off.....here going on 12 years later.
I just wanted to say Mr. Harrill touched a lot of lives, and although I have kind of been out of the Isshinryu scene for a while, I just happened to think of him tonight. I hope someone sees this and people start adding memories, because he was one heck of of memorable man!!
RIP Sensei"
In loving memory of
Sherman Harrill
November 30, -0001
Sherman Jordan Harrill, one of four children of Ernie Eldorse and Etna Estle (Churchill) Harrill, was born in Lebanon, Missouri on May 11, 1941. The family soon moved to Carson, Iowa where Sherm graduated from high school in 1958. Sherm entered the U. S. Marine Corps on July 21, 1958, and was soon stationed on Okinawa Island. Sherm began to study karate and as his karate skills improved, he became an instructor in Isshin-Ryu Karate. Sherm was discharged from the Marines and went to work in California as an auto mechanic. He returned to Carson and worked in Council Bluffs, Iowa as a mechanic at Sayers Volkswagon. Sherm later moved to Storm Lake, Iowa in 1964 to accept a mechanic position at Import Motors.
Sherm met Linda Marie Nelson of Storm Lake and on September 11, 1965, they were united in marriage at the Storm Lake United Methodist Church. They continued to live in Storm Lake and were blessed with their first daughter, Leslie Marie. In 1970, the family moved to Carson, and Sherm worked at Tim O'Neill Auto Center as a mechanic and later became a salesman, eventually advancing to service manager. During this time, their second daughter, Courtney Ann was born.
In 1983, Leslie and Courtney were killed in a tragic auto accident near Carson. Devastated, Sherm and Linda found Sherm could no longer work away from Carson. In 1985, he established Harrill's Isshin-Ryu Karate School in Carson and accepted a school bus driver position with the Carson Macedonia School District. The discipline of martial arts and the activities of the school helped Sherm and Linda to survive the death of their daughters. The school soon gained national and worldwide recognition and Sherm traveled throughout the United States and Africa teaching karate. Enthusiasts from around the world and the United States traveled to Carson to attend Sherm's annual karate seminar. He was recognized by "Who's Who in Isshin-Ryu" and was a 2001 inductee into the Isshin-Ryu Hall of Fame.
Sherm and Linda had been married for 37 years when Sherm died at the Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs on November 4, 2002. Sherm had attained the age of 61 years, 5 months, and 23 days. He was preceded in death by his parents, daughters Leslie and Courtney, and father-in-law Harold Nelson.
Sherm is survived by his wife Linda, sister Charlotte Rollins of Atlantic, Iowa; brothers James Harrill and his wife Janice of McClelland, Iowa and Dean Harrill and his wife Jeannie of Council Bluffs, Iowa; mother-in-law Lottie Nelson of Storm Lake, Iowa; nieces and nephews; other relatives and friends.