Sherman Roy GREGORY

Sherman Gregory

Sherman, being the oldest son, left school at a very young age to help his father work the farm to support a very large family. He grew up in the vicinity of Lone Wolf, Oklahoma where he farmed from a very young age until April 1937. He raised cattle and he taught his nephew, Bill Harris, how to ride and rope calves. Even though this was during the great depression he did well enough with his cattle and farming that, when he and his wife, Grace, and son, Glenn (born October 12, 1936) drove to Toledo, Oregon, they were able to travel with all their belongings in a Model A Ford which he had previously purchased new. He had owned his own farm equipment.

He went to work the day he arrived at Toledo on the evening shift at C D Johnson lumber mill (later purchased by Georgia Pacific) where he was steadily employed until the early 50's at which time he transferred to a new plywood mill being built by Georgia Pacific adjacent to C D Johnson's lumber mill. Sherman was very mechanically inclined and therefore was able to transfer into the maintenance department at the plywood mill as a plumber where he worked until he died in an accident as a result of a fall from the roof during a rain storm. Sherman essentially worked for the same employer from 1937 to 1962.

Although Sherman had very little formal education, his mechanical abilities led to a thorough knowledge of automobiles, tractors, or almost any machine. He spent much time repairing automobiles during the early years for himself as well as relatives. He loved the Model A Ford, the Chevrolet six cylinder pickups, and John Deere tractors. He thoroughly disliked V-8's of any type, but reluctantly drove a '55 Chevy V-8 pickup for 3 or 4 years and although trouble-free, he got rid of it and bought an older 6-cylinder Chevy pickup. When he died he owned the pickup and a John Deere tractor.