Sherwin "Sherm" Rodney Gronlund, age 84, of Amery Wisconsin, passed away at Colfax Health & Rehabilitation Center on August 11, 2017, with his family at his side. He was born on January 12, 1933 in a farm house in Cushing Wisconsin, Town of Laketown, as the third and youngest child of Oliver and Violet (Akerlind) Gronlund. He was baptized and confirmed at the Atlas United Methodist Church.

Sherm attended school in the Atlas/Luck area and graduated from Luck High School in 1951. He was known as "Shorty" by all of his good friends and relatives during his youth. Sherm remained close to his classmates and looked forward to their annual class reunion every fall. Sherm still has his high school letter sweater that he wore as a high school cheerleader.

After graduating from high school, Sherm served in the US Air Force from 1952-1956 and spent his time at bases in San Antonio, Mississippi and finally in Alaska. He served as a Radio Interceptor Operator at Elmendorf Air Force Base during the Korean War and established many lasting relationships during that time. Hearing his experiences about "stealing" Morse code from the Russians was shared frequently with various family members. He was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant in February 1960. He also spent two summers working for the US Fish & Wildlife Service at King Salmon, Alaska.
Early in 1959 he met the love of his life, Leaon D. Lindh from Frederic, Wisconsin and they were united in marriage at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Frederic on December 19, 1959. The following year they moved to Amery, Wisconsin and it was there they were blessed with two daughters, Pam and Jane. Sherm and Leaon were members of Amery's Congregational Church, UCC.

Sherm graduated with a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education from UW-River Falls in 1960 and received his Master of Science in Teaching from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1971. He began his teaching career as an English Teacher at Amery High School in the fall of 1960 and retired in 1994. Over his teaching career, Sherm also served as the Forensics Advisor and accompanied many students to regional and state competitions in addition to volunteering at the WIAA State Track and Field Meet in LaCrosse for 22 years. Although he was "retired" from teaching, Sherm maintained his role as the "Voice of the Warriors", announcing all of the sporting events at Amery School District for over 45 years, with his last football game being the Fall of 2016. Sherm was proud to only have missed two sporting events over the years and was known for his impeccable accuracy at every game he announced.

Sherm & Leaon spent 25 enjoyable years living on the shores of Bear Trap Lake, until they decided in 1997 to move to a Pondhurst condo in Amery, where Sherm served as Treasurer for Pondhurst Condo Association for 17 years. Sherm was honored in 2004 when he and Leaon were chosen as the Amery Fall Festival Parade Marshalls. Sherm and Leaon loved to travel and had many memorable trips to Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, England and France while also spending their summers camping in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the last 1 ½ years Sherm traveled to Hawaii to visit Pearl Harbor and Kauai; Denver, Colorado and finally San Antonio, Texas.

Sherm loved sporting events and attended his grandchildren's high school and college events; various WIAA high school state tournaments; and Wisconsin Badgers events as a passionate and devoted fan. He was also a dedicated Minnesota Vikings and Twins fan. The television in Sherm's house was either on a sporting event, news or a history channel. Sherm read at least one to two books a month on his Kindle, usually about various worldwide historical events and especially World War II. His memory of various events and occurrences over the years was impeccable and he has logged numerous events and weather statistics over the years. Sherm also maintained a special connection with many of his former students through various social media on his Facebook, Shapchat and Twitter accounts.
Sherm was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He was a true friend to many and will be missed by all. Sherm is survived by his daughters Pam (Dave) White of Eau Claire and Jane (Brad) Ayer of Clear Lake. He is further survived by 3 grandchildren, Kaela (Ola) Akau of Kauai, HI; Derek (Ingrid) Wold in the US Army in San Antonio, Texas; and Ryan Ayer of Chicago, Illinois; along with 4 great-grandchildren – Kallie and Kaisa Akau and Jiselle and Henrik Wold; a special cousin – Cindy Bolton of Phillips, Wisconsin; Special foreign exchange student daughter, Fiona (Richard) Lilgert of Helperby, North Yorkshire, UK; and many other special nephews, nieces and other relatives and very good friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife Leaon; mother and father, Oliver and Violet; his brother Roger and sister-in-law Bernadette; sister Jane (Keckeissen) and brother-in-law Arthur "Keck"; and various other relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to the family, which will be designated at a later date.

Please join the family in celebrating Sherm's life. The family requests you bring written memories/stories of Sherm that could be shared with his great grandchildren children. Visitation will be held Tuesday, August 15th, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Williamson-White Funeral Home, 222 Harriman Avenue North in Amery, and on Wednesday from 2 pm to 3 pm at the church prior to the service. The funeral service will be held at 3 pm on Wednesday August 16th, 2017, at the Congregational Church UCC in Amery with the Reverend Barry Schaefer officiating. Interment will take place at a later date at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spooner, WI.

The family would like to thank the physicians and staff at Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire and Bloomer for their care. A special thanks to the staff at Colfax Health & Rehabilitation Center along with the Mayo Clinic Hospice Staff.

Sherm always had the best seat in the house as the Voice of the Warriors, and he now has the best seat in the house of the Lord where his voice will be forever strong!