Aaron M. Sherman died in his home March 14, under the care of his three children and with the support of hospice. He was 95 years old.

Mr. Sherman was born May 10, 1906, and was proud to tell people he’d lived on Vashon Island since then continuously.

He was the grandson of two of the island’s original settlers, Salmon and Eliza Sherman, who came to the island in 1877.

He was honored to have served as a Grand Marshal of the 1999 Strawberry Festival.

He was known for his wonderful memory of island history and for his dry wit.

He was born to Fred and Nettie Sherman at the family home about 500 feet from the pioneer monument on Quartermaster Harbor Drive.

In 1920 his parents built a new home across the road where they kept 3,000 to 4,000 chickens and four milk cows and kept a big garden.

Mr. Sherman and his brother Bill delivered his family’s eggs, milk and butter by rowboat to customers around inner Quartermaster Harbor. He attended the Portage School, Center School, and Burton High School.

He was entrusted with driving a school bus during his junior and senior years. During that same time he worked summers on the Vashona, a passenger steamer that ran from Quartermaster Harbor to Tacoma.

Following graduation n 1924, he worked full-time on the Vashona until 1925 when he became a manager of the 88-acre Billingsley farm, clearing land and raising grapes, pie cherries and gooseberries for 18 years.

In 1934, he married Iris Aldrich of Tacoma whose family had a summer home in Burton. They purchased their waterfront home at Newport Beach, three quarters of a mile north of Burton, in 1936.

Starting in 1941, he drove the island bus into Seattle for 14 years, including during World War II when the buses were overflowing because of gas rationing. He knew everyone who was riding and was proud to have driven more than 300,000 miles accident free. He also served as a volunteer firefighter for the Burton Fire Station. His last job was as an oiler on the Washington State Ferries from 1954 to 1971.

Above all else, his friends and family says he was a devoted husband and father. He and his wife celebrated their 60th anniversary in 1994. She died in 1997.

Together they had four children. Their first-born son, Bruce, died in 1945 at the age of 10.

Survivors include Rick Sherman of Tukwila, Suzanne Sherman of Olympia, Joy Sherman White and her husband Dennis of Auburn and five grandchildren.

After a private family burial, a memorials will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at the Burton Community Church.

Memorials are suggested to the Burton Community Church at P.O. Box 13134, Burton, Wash. 98013, or the Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association, P.O. Box 723, Vashon Island, Wash. 98070.