Sherrill Royster Washington, died unexpectedly at the age of 80 on Monday, April 14, 2025. He was born in Oxford on December 22, 1944, the son of Coral W. Washington and Sherrill F. Washington. He attended Oxford public schools. Prior to receiving his B.A. degree in history in 1967 from Wake Forest College, he attended Mars Hill College for two years. As a child, he attended Camp Sea Gull in Arapahoe, where he developed a lifelong passion for sailing Sunfish. During the summers of his high school and college years, he returned there as a counselor and was on the sailing staff. After graduation from college, he served in the U.S. Navy during the Viet-Nam conflict and was able to travel in countries surrounding the Mediterranean while making a nine-month Med Cruise with the Sixth Fleet on the U.S.S. Shangri-La, an aircraft carrier. While still in service, he also had the opportunity to travel extensively in southeast Asia. One of his duty stations was in Seoul, South Korea where he was assigned to the United Nations Armistice Affairs Division which conducts talks with the North Koreans at Panmunjom. After being in service, he worked for the NC Division of Community Corrections for 37 years before retiring from a management position. After he retired, he enjoyed working in his yard, traveling abroad with friends and operating his real estate firm, Granville Properties, where he found helping first-time home buyers particularly satisfying.

He maintained a keen interest in history, particularly the history of his hometown, and in historic preservation. He was a life member and past president of the Granville County Historical Society and a member of The Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc. where he once served on the board of directors. He also served as chairman of the Oxford/Granville County Historical Properties Commission which supervised the publication of Heritage and Homesteads, the first county-wide survey of historical architecture published in North Carolina. He served as co-chair of Oxford's Bicentennial Committee. He belonged to Oxford Baptist Church where he served as a Sunday school teacher, deacon, and chairman of the Board of Deacons. Among other things, he was a past commander of the Ernest F. Hart American Legion Post and recently received recognition as a 50-year member. He was a former president of the Oxford Kiwanis Club, and former chairman of the Wake Forest University Poteat

Scholarship Committee for the 2nd Congressional District. Past community service included serving on the Granville Medical Center Board of Directors, the Granville County Courthouse Building Advisory Committee, Chairman of the Granville County Blood Mobile, a member of the City of Oxford Appearance Commission and a member of the City of Oxford Planning Board.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 52 years, the former Isabel Roberson of Tarboro; his son, J. Yancey Washington and his wife, Mary Kathryn, grandson, James Y. Washington, Jr. and granddaughter, Emma Louise Washington, of Oxford; his daughter, Fairley W. Mahlum and her husband, David, granddaughter, Annabel G. Mahlum, and grandsons, Robert "Bert" J. Mahlum, II and Oliver "Ollie" L. Mahlum, of Raleigh; his brother in-law Edward L. Roberson, III and his wife, Susan, of Tarboro; his sister-in-law Kathy R. Dudley and her husband, George, of Wake Forest; and three nephews and a niece. He was predeceased by his brother, Herbert Y. Washington, and is survived by his sister-in-law, Gail M. Washington, of Henderson.

A memorial service will be conducted at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 17 at Oxford Baptist Church. A light reception will follow in the Oxford Baptist Family Life Center. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Oxford Baptist Church – Backpack Buddies, P.O. Box 398, Oxford, NC 27565 or the Granville County Historical Society, P.O. Box 1433, Oxford, NC 27565.

Arrangements are by Sossamon Funeral Home of Oxford. Online condolences may be made at sossamonfuneralhome.com.