Lakeside resident Sherman Holbert died in his Ajijic home on June 4 at the age of 96.
Holbert was born July 11, 1916 in Delhart, Texas, where his pregnant mother was taken off a train bound for New Mexico to give birth. Mother and baby were back on another train less than two days later.
Still a baby, he went to stay with his mother’s parents in Minnesota and lived for 14 years on an American Indian reservation, the Ojibwe Tribe of the Chippewa/Algonquin Nation.
Holbert ran away from home at 14, joined his father in Madison, Wisconsin and finished high school in Manchester, Iowa.
Although he received a scholarship to attend college, he did not take it up because his entrepreneurial spirit was so strong. Bottled gas was just entering the market and Holbert joined a new company offering the product, working as a salesman.
When Shell Oil entered the bottled gas arena, Holbert was taken on as a salesman and consultant. By 1936, he was Shell’s representative to a stove company that made the first stoves using bottled gas, and he became their national sales director.
Meanwhile, Holbert had earned himself a pilot’s license. He volunteered for service in October 1940 and joined the Army Air Corps in February 1941. Since he had a hearing problem, he was assigned to pilot training. For his work he was awarded the Legion of Merit medal.
After being discharged, Holbert returned to Minnesota via a visit to his uncle in Manchester, Iowa, who was the mayor and manager of the Iowa Electric Power and Light Company. His uncle asked his office manager, Maxine, to entertain Holbert while he was visiting. She later became his wife.
They moved to Mille Lacs, Lake Minnesota, where Holbert became involved in many businesses, including the manufacture of maple syrup. He also sold logs to a local sawmill for a time, and later bought the sawmill. He did all this while working at a real estate agency.
Holbert joined Mille Lacs Masonic Lodge #335 in Onamia, Minnesota, and was initiated in April 1951. He was raised to the Third Degree in April 1959.
Holbert sold his maple syrup business in 1952, and started development of a market for wild rice. He was the premier marketer of wild rice in the country, and eventually sold that business too, remaining as a consultant to the new owners.
In the mid-1950s, he converted the syrup making building into the Fort Mille Lacs Gift and Souvenir Shop for his wife. Over the next 50 years, it expanded into a major tourist attraction, that included a restaurant, animal park, Indian Museum, miniature golf, gas station, convenience store, a Subway Sandwich Shop and a motel.
In the winter of 1983-84, Sherman and Maxine lived in Guanajuato, and had occasion to visit Lakeside. They returned in the winter of 1984-85 and moved here permanently in 1999 after buying a house in Ajijic the year before.
Holbert is a member of Axixic Masonic Lodge #33 and has attended sessions regularly.
Holbert is survived by his loving wife, Maxine; two daughters, Victoria Holbert (Larry), who reside in Elk River, Minnesota; and, Sherri Milgroom (Michael), who reside in Ithica, New York. He had two grandchildren, Jessica and Travis.