Steve Sherman, a Flotilla 66 member whose encyclopedic knowledge of arcane Auxiliary matters was built on a foundation of nearly 20,000 volunteer hours in many different Coast Guard fields, died in Orange County on Sept. 24 after a brief battle with pneumonia.
He was 77 years old and served 16½ years in the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Steve’s service record reads like an Auxiliary hall of fame résumé:
He held no fewer than 29 different elected and appointed offices, including three at his death: Division 6 vice commander, ADSO-IS and SO-IS. He was past commander of two Orange County flotillas, 6-6 in North Orange County and the old 6-7 in Newport Beach, and served on the National staff as a branch chief for, of all things, Culinary Assistance Pacific.
The Coast Guard returned the favor: Steve received the Auxiliary Commendation Award, four Coast Guard Unit Commendations, four Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendations and sundry other accolades.
Steve gained a reputation for omnipresence at flotilla and staff meetings. According to service records, he volunteered an average of more than 1,000 hours per year over his Auxiliary career. In 2014 he earned his bronze hourglass device on the Sustained Auxiliary Service Award ribbon — representing 7,500 hours — after just 6 years. His gold hourglass device, for 15,000 hours, was earned in 2022, after less than 15 years in the Auxiliary.
“Steve was very dedicated and could not say no to a request,” recalled Ray Evans of Flotilla 6-6. “One example is his agreeing to attend a new flotilla’s meeting. However, this was a new flotilla in Las Vegas! So, Steve joined five other Division 6 members in a car at 4 a.m. to attend this meeting. Late in the afternoon they started their journey back to Orange County.“
Steve was something of a renaissance man, remaining current in three disparate certifications: Aids To Navigation Verifier, Vessel Examiner and Instructor. At one time he was also a certified boat crew member and Auxiliary boat facility owner, earning the AUXOP and Recreational Boating Safety badges.
Among Steve’s favorite Auxiliary operations was an annual trip to Santa Catalina Island for vessel examinations, friends say. But Steve also found a calling in information systems.
Wayne Palmer, D11SR’s southern district captain and a close friend, remembers that Steve sweet-talked (or strong-armed) him into the information systems job.
“I was elected division commander, and he was coming off of a heart issue and he wanted to be SO-IS on my staff. I told him no because I felt that he needed some time to recover,” Wayne says. “We went back and forth with it for about three weeks. He had called friends to plead his case, he wanted it so badly. He told me he would never let me down. He promised!”
But Wayne was unconvinced.
“I still had concerns and a good friend Bill Kopenski, and Ann Evans called and asked me to throw the dog a bone,” he says. “So I did. Well that was over ten years ago and I will tell you that Steve was true to his word. He never let me down.”
Steve’s expert advice to colleagues on a variety of Auxiliary topics was usually accepted as authoritative, and he astonished more than one meeting by correctly reciting from memory upcoming Auxiliary operations throughout D11SR.
“Over the years Steve has traveled a few days a week to sector LA/LB to update the Auxiliary records, assisting Auxiliary District officers and the USCG OTO with the many reports required for operations,” Ray Evans says. “Steve really found his vocation in the Auxiliary as information specialist in the SO, ADSO, and DSO positions that he held. Basically, he worked full time for the Auxiliary and augmented the Coast Guard full time.”
Steven A. Sherman was born in 1946 to Howard and Shirley Sherman in West Los Angeles, and attended San Fernando Valley State College, now known as Cal State Northridge. He was disqualified from military service because of poor hearing, a condition that friends say contributed to his 2008 decision to join the Auxiliary, which has no physical fitness qualification.
Following a management career in the financial industry, at age 61 Steve joined the Auxiliary and hardly looked back. He almost immediately started earning qualifications and awards, particularly in the fields of information systems and public education, and earned his first Sustained Auxiliary Service Award for 750 service hours almost exactly two years after joining.
Steve, who lived in Orange County for more than 50 years, initially joined Flotilla 2-9 (now Flotilla 6-8) in Dana Point, then moved to 6-7. He finally joined 6-6, closer to his home in North Orange County.
Anne Evans of Flotilla 66 recalled his early days: “Steve was extremely hard of hearing, but when he first joined the Auxiliary, the Dana Point flotilla commander asked Steve to be FSO-SR. A nearly deaf secretary of records!? Steve immediately accepted the position and used a tape recorder at the monthly flotilla meetings. After each meeting, his wife Shirley would listen to the recording and help Steve transcribe the minutes.”
Although it was easy to assume that Steve lived and breathed Coast Guard Auxiliary, friends said his interests also extended to target shooting and restoring automobiles. He left a Jaguar project unfinished.
Steve, who lived in Yorba Linda, is survived by his wife Shirley. He is also survived by his 98-year-old mother, also named Shirley; sons Jeremy and Jason Sherman; another son, Stephen Franklin; daughter Chandra LaRose; and his sister Susan Sherman. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. All live in California.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Sept. 29 at Harbor Lawn-Mt. Olive Memorial Park in Costa Mesa.
