Memorial services for Mary Sherman, 89, of Norman will held at 1:30 p.m. Monday, August 31, 2026 at McFarlin United Methodist Church in Norman, with a reception to follow in the Fellowship Hall. Services will be under the direction of the Wilson-Little Funeral Home in Purcell.
Mrs. Sherman passed away on August 26, 2026.
Mary Elizabeth Angus Sherman was born at the Angus Hospital in Lawton, Oklahoma, on January 3, 1937 to Dr. Donald and Mable Angus. She grew up in Lawton and graduated from Lawton High School.
She attended the University of Oklahoma where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. During the fall of her freshman year, she met her college and lifetime sweetheart, Don Sherman. Don was a year ahead of her, and a business major from Purcell, Okla. After dating for three years, they married on February 8, 1958. Their 58-year marriage ended with Don’s death in September of 2016.
Mary received her degree, a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics, in three years as Don had graduated the year before. He had started his banking career in Purcell, but had an ROTC obligation beginning in June of 1958. He was stationed at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana, for the next two years. While there, their daughter Elizabeth was born.
Returning home to Purcell, Don resumed his banking career. However, in September of 1961 due to the building of the Berlin Wall, Don’s reserve unit was called to active duty. They moved to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, where their son Donald Neil Sherman II was born.
Returning to Purcell in August of 1962, the young couple became active in the community and in the Trinity United Methodist Church. In September of 1966 Mary became the head of the Purcell Library, a branch of the Pioneer Library System. She also started graduate work at OU, where in 1969 she received her Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. She became the executive director of Pioneer in 1987 until she retired in 2007.
She is a past president of the Oklahoma Library Association, served on the American Library Association Council, as well as numerous committees of ALA and the Public Library Association. In 1999 she was elected as a member of the International Federation of Library Associations Public Library Committee which she served on for nine years and attended fourteen meetings outside the USA. She received the Distinguished Service Award from the Oklahoma Library Association, and the Award of Merit from the School of Library and Information Science at OU.
In 1992 Don and Mary moved to Norman. Don commuted to Purcell where he was CEO of McClain Bank. The roles were reversed as Mary in her various roles at the Pioneer Library System had commuted to Norman since 1978. Mary and Don were members of McFarlin United Methodist Church. Mary served on various church committees, including the Friendship Sunday School Class and the Soul Keepers Study Group.
Both were active in community affairs in Purcell and Norman. She is a past president of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, the Women’s Resource Center, Bethesda Inc., and the Norman Reviewers Club. A Rotarian since 1989, she is a past president of the Norman Rotary Club and served as District Governor in 2007/2008. She attended 15 international conventions and was the Team Leader for a Group Study Exchange to Iceland.
A loyal University of Oklahoma Alum, she served on the Board of Visitors of the College of International Studies as well as the Board of Visitors of the College of Arts and Sciences. She served three terms as a trustee of the University of Oklahoma Foundation. She and her late husband endowed a number of scholarships at OU. She was also a member of Impact Oklahoma VOW (Visionary Oklahoma Women) and the Norman Kappa Alpha Theta Alum Club. She served on the Board of Directors at McClain Bank. Reading, entertaining, and traveling were her favorite hobbies. Mary had visited 86 different countries in her lifetime.
Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Don Sherman.
She is survived by her children, Elizabeth Sherman of Dallas, Texas, and Donald Sherman and wife, Carmel, of Purcell, Okla.; her grandchildren, Katelynn Yow and husband, Mike, of Broken Arrow, Okla., and Neil Sherman and wife, Ashleigh, of Norman, Okla.; her five great-grandchildren, Mary May Sherman, Ford Sherman, Rose Sherman, Josie Yow and Ruby Yow. She also leaves behind three nephews, Steve Sherman and wife, Tracey, of Purcell, Okla., James Sherman and wife, Leslie, of South Haven, Kan., and Scott Angus of St. Louis, Mo.; her niece, Kristen Best and husband, Steve, of Chevy Chase, Md., and her brother, Larry Angus and wife, Gloria, of Denver, Colo.
Online condolences may be made at www.wilsonlittle.com.