Frederick Ray Sherman

Fred Sherman passed away on March 15, 2022. He was born February 11, 1948, in Pocatello Idaho to Elsie Green Sherman and Francis Raymond Sherman. Fred grew up and attended school in Pocatello. He was an Eagle Scout, and in his younger years, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping with his dad, his brother Gene and many good friends. Fred had a photographic memory and graduated valedictorian from Highland High School in 1966. He later attended North Texas State University where he graduated with a 4.0 GPA in Mathematics and Music. He played music in the North Texas State “one o’clock” lab band and met many musicians that he talked about and admired for the rest of his life. He also traveled to Germany and Switzerland as part of the “one o’clock” band and filled in as a lead trumpet player for artists like Stevie Wonder and James Brown and received an outstanding soloist award while playing at the Stanford University Jazz festival. He had a special admiration for his sister-in-law Jeanne Green Sherman, who is a world-class pianist. When Fred returned to Pocatello in 1971, he hooked up with a band called Fat Chance and his high school sweetheart, Karen Leger Sherman. The couple got married in April 1971 and the very next day, Fred headed to Los Angeles with five bandmates, four dogs, and one wife. While in Los Angeles, Fat Chance recorded an album with RCA Studios. They played in all sorts of places like the Troubadour and the Whiskey A-Go-Go and were featured in Billboard Magazine. It was a wild and wonderful time to be part of the music scene in Los Angeles in the early 1970s and Fred would later tell stories about the Halloween costume party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and the band staying at Tina Turner’s house while they played gigs around L.A. The members of Fat Chance were true brothers to Fred, and he had love and respect for all of them for the rest of his life.
But after all the excitement of traveling with the band, Fred decided that back home in Pocatello was where he wanted to be. He would go every year with his family to Island Park Idaho and spend a week camping and riding all the machines he worked so hard to keep in good condition. If the trip was supposed to last one day, Fred would prepare enough supplies for a week, so every Island Park trip had enough supplies to last for about a month, that was just the kind of guy that he was. In the winter he and his family were avid skiers at Pebble Creek where he and Karen taught their sons to ski from an early age.
In 2010 Fred and Karen embarked on a tour of the U.S. They had a blast camping in state parks and visiting historical sites like Mt. Rushmore, all five great lakes, Niagara Falls, New York, Kennedy Space Center, and the Everglades. When they arrived in New Orleans, Fred played with fellow musicians in various nightclubs. They were gone for six weeks and traveled ten-thousand miles.
Fred often said that one of the most fun and memorable trips he and Karen ever took was to an Island off the coast of Venezuela called Bonair. They went scuba diving three times a day every day for a week. But they both decided that diving at night by flashlight was something they never wanted to do again.
Fred was a member of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union local 648 and worked as a Pipefitter until his retirement in 2009. He was always a superb builder, welder, and mechanic who could build anything and everything and often did just that. But his greatest loves in life were always his wife Karen, their two sons, Cory and Casey, his beautiful daughter-in-law Loni, and his precious grandchildren, Greyson, Ashton, and Saylor.
Fred was never in a hurry to get things done because his focus was on doing things right.
“You are the love of my life, Fred. My partner for 50 years, and I will miss you dearly.” – From Karen to Fred.
“I don’t care what you do, weld pipe, golf, or play jazz; there’s certain fundamental laws of the universe that apply. The first thing you have to get together is your own brain.” – Fred Sherman.
Fred Sherman is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren, his loving brother Eugene, his sister-in-law Jeanne and their kids Wendy and Tiffany.
At Fred’s request, no services will be held.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Cornelison Funeral Home, 431 N. 15th Ave., Pocatello. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.cornelisonfh.com
208-232-0542

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