Washington remembers former Journal publisher

Darwin Sherman wore many hats in his life: a business professional, a hunter, a farmer, a collector, an outdoorsman, a parent and a newspaper publisher, to name a few. Specific accomplishments are documented across his career, with titles like Washington Chamber of Commerce Board Member, co-founder of WEDG, Iowa Newspaper Association Board President and recipient of the group’s Master Editor-Publisher Award in 1997.

After Sherman’s death Jan. 31, those who knew him said he’d be remembered not for his various deeds, but for his outspoken, opinionated personality. For better or for worse, the former publisher was up front with people about anything and everything.

“With Darwin, I think it was black and white,” said Michael Moore, a friend and occasional news contact of Sherman’s. “He had people that just did not like him, but there was a bigger number that liked him … he could be abrasive at times, but not with me. I never had a problem with him.”

His willingness to ask hard questions was essential to Sherman’s success in the newspaper industry, first in Maquoketa, then in Washington after moving there in 1978, where he co-owned and eventually became publisher of the paper.

Southeast Iowa Union Publisher Matt Bryant — who was hired by Sherman and frequently butted heads with his friend — said the former publisher’s straightforward approach was key to the survival of the local papers that now make up the Southeast Iowa Union.

“He was tough, he was fair, he knew what he wanted,” Bryant said. “These three towns are three of the smallest towns in the state that have a daily paper. And he set the groundwork so that we could continue to have a daily paper.”

That leadership took more than persistence alone, however. The man was remembered by everyone interviewed as a hard worker in every aspect of his life.

“He could always find work to do, things to do to keep busy,” said Jim Cuddeback, another friend of Sherman’s.

Cuddeback’s farm neighbored 200 acres of land owned by Sherman west of Washington, used largely for conservation agriculture, rather than row crops. Sherman would plant food for wildlife, maintain timber and remove thistles, in exchange for money from the state’s Conservation Reserve Program.

The farmer and publisher hit it off quickly, after Cuddeback lent Sherman a tractor for a day. The occasion came roughly 40 years after the latter had last worked on a farm.

“He rode with me for a few rounds, and it was a busy time of the year for me,” Cuddeback said. “I said, ‘Darwin, you’re going to run this the rest of the day now, and you’re going to work all your ground.’

“He looked at me and he said, ‘This is a brand-new tractor. You’re going to let me drive a brand-new tractor all day?’ I said yes … He ran that tractor for about eight hours, and came back with the biggest smile on his face, it just made his day. From that time on, we were best of friends.”

Cuddeback said farm work was Sherman’s way to relax, despite the labor involved. It served as yet another way to stay in motion.

“Farming was his release,” Cuddeback said. “He would come out to the farm every day after work, and any day off, he’d spend at the farm, and I think it was just his way of letting off steam and getting away from whatever duties were in his head from running a newspaper.”

The workhorse attitude ran in the family, according to Sherman’s daughter, Darci Witthoft. It was less a school of thought and more a force of personality that followed him into old age, sometimes to a fault.

“It just was ingrained, it was who he was,” she said. “His brother and his sister were driven, they were driven people too, and my grandmother … I think it was just his upbringing.”

Despite constantly being in motion, Witthoft said her father never put his family aside. While work and home life were compartmentalized, Sherman would often bring his children — and eventually grandchildren — along on his escapades.

“I just did stuff with him,” she said. “He just drug us along with him, or he’d put us to work … we just always did a lot. I think about that now a lot because I have kids and I just do my job, I don’t have all these other hobbies and things like that, and he was just that person. But he was always home, or present in our lives.”

The importance of family didn’t fade with time, either. Witthoft said Sherman stayed very involved throughout his life.

“I was a single parent for 10 years, and he and my mom — they helped raise my son,” she said. “I’m a teacher, and I’d travel abroad with students, and the only way I could do that was because they would watch (him.) … when I had my other two children, they didn’t miss anything, they went to everything. I just always knew that if I ever needed anything, he was there.”

Sherman’s visitation will be held on Saturday, Feb. 11, 1-4 p.m. at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com