Sumpter Board helps celebrate the late Foster E. Sherwood

The life of the late World War II veteran Foster E. Sherwood of Sumpter Township was celebrated at the Oct. 27 meeting of the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees.
Leroy Paige of Sumpter Township, the state director of the Michigan chapter of Honor and Remember, presented a special flag to Mary Sherwood in honor of her brother-in-law’s life.
Just before Memorial Day this year, Paige was present to lead the township board in honoring the 51 names on the Veterans’ Memorial in Horizon Park in Belleville.
He said the board went above and beyond what he hoped and every name on the memorial was read at the meeting.
After that meeting, Mary Sherwood said there is a name that should be added to the memorial, although he didn’t die in battle.
Paige got more information on Foster E. Sherwood and at the Oct. 27 meeting he surprised Mary Sherwood with the celebration of Forest Sherwood, the family hero. Mary dissolved in tears as members of her family came out from where they had been hiding to join her in the celebration.
Paige said Foster E. Sherwood joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and was a navigator in 37 successful bombing runs over Germany. On the 38th run the plane was shot down and the crew was detained by the Russian military until they could fly the plane back to England.
He married and was reinstated in the military in 1951 for the Korean War. He served in Texas, Colorado, California, Maine, and Louisiana.
On. Oct. 25 1956, during a routine takeoff, the plane he was piloting exploded and Captain Sherwood was killed instantly. He earned many awards, including the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Paige noted the story emphasizes that “the cost of freedom is not free.”
Paige said when Mary Sherwood went on a month-long vacation to tour the West with her brother, it put a crimp in their plans for the celebration. It had been planned for September. Mary said she was so tired from the trip that she almost didn’t attend the Oct. 27 meeting. But, she said, she hadn’t attended a Sumpter meeting for a month, so she thought she’d better go.
In other business at the Oct. 27 meeting, the board:
• Approved Eric Christman & Sons to repair the entrance steps and ramp at the police station for $15,000;
• Approved Gabe Akans, Jamie Krushlin, Ron Barnette, Dan Montecinos, Chris Walter-Hamm to attend Firefighter 1 and 2 training at a cost of $3,250;
• Approved free use of the Community Center Gym for a fund raiser for Russel LaPalme on Nov. 21;
• Approved free use of the Community Center Gym for a Nov. 6 and 7 craft show for the Sumpter Seniors to benefit their Christmas party;
• Heard Trustee Don Swinson report that Parks & Recreation’s last turkey shoot was held and they shots 128 rounds over the four weeks. Kevin Rochon won Cabela’s gift car this year. Supervisor John Morgan marvelled at all the work the volunteers in Parks & Rec have done and applauded their efforts for the community;
• Heard Trustee Matthew Oddy give a report on the work of the planning commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals; and
• Gave Trustee Swinson the requested permission to put together a committee to discuss using solar power for the Community Center and police department. Supervisor Morgan has appointed Trustee Oddy, Police Captain Eric Luke, Senior Director Mary Ann Watson to work with Swinson on the project. “All I’m trying to do is save the township some money,” Swinson said.
After the meeting, Supervisor Morgan told the Independent that the township has 40 days to appoint a trustee to replace the late Trustee Hamm or the state will do it.