Sherrill Bronson Smith

Sherrill Bronson Smith, Jr., 84, died peacefully in the arms of his four children on March 18, 2014. Priest, writer, harbormaster, sailor, fisherman, lobsterman, kayaker, extension agent for the Division of Marine Fisheries, avid reader who loved the poems of Robert Frost, Wendell Berry and T. S. Eliot, interested not only in God but in the Great Spirit. He served his community throughout life, first as an Eagle Scout, later on numerous boards and committees including as Orleans' representative to the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission. He also worked with Senator Kennedy to draft legislation that created the 200-mile fishing limit. A graduate of Springfield College and Yale-Berkeley Divinity School, he served as priest at Christ Church, Easton, CT, St. James Episcopal Church, Glastonbury, CT, St. David's Episcopal Church, South Yarmouth and St. Andrews By-the-Sea, Hyannis Port. He also wrote for local and regional publications, including many years as a columnist at The Register and The Cape Codder newspapers, where his "Woodstove" column offered deep insights into the peninsula he called home. At the end of his life he expressed tremendous gratitude to live in his simple house on Cape Cod, a place he loved unwaveringly, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife, Jean Smith, his four children and their spouses, Jennifer Smith and Terence Noonan of Eastham, Laura and Kevin Usher of Brewster, Thomas and Gail Smith and Katherine and Todd Bunzick, all of Orleans, and by his stepchildren, Peter Jensen of Ethiopia and Elizabeth Woodford of Virginia. He is also survived by ten grandchildren and four step grandchildren and by his sister, Dorothy Schliemann of Honolulu, Hawaii. He was pre-deceased by his first wife, Adrianne C. Smith of Orleans, his parents, Rev. Sherrill B. Smith, Sr. and Gertrude (Murray) Smith, his brother, Franklin S. Smith, and sister, Marian Vansant. A memorial service celebrating Sherrill's life will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, March 29 at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Reverend Smith's memory to Hope Hospice Care of Cape Cod at Hope Health, 765 Attucks Lane, Hyannis, MA 02601 or visit www.hopehealthco.org or to Cape CARES, PO Box 1049, East Orleans, MA 02643-1049 or visit www.capecares.com . For additional information or to send the family a written expression of sympathy, please visit an online guest book at www.dyer-lakefuneralhome.com . Arrangements are under the direction of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth Avenue, Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro. (508) 695-0200 "To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life." - T.S. Eliot