Page created by: Jaret Stickney

Sherwood Earle Stickney passed away peacefully in his favorite chair on April 2, 2021 in Brooksville, Florida after a valiant battle with Parkinson’s, Myelofibrosis and liver disease. Earl, as most knew him, was born on August 5, 1944. He spent his youth working on his grandparent’s dairy farms in Maine and Rhode Island. There he developed a true talent for working with his hands. One of his many gifts was his ability to take anything apart and put it back together ‘good as new’, whether it be a backhoe, tractor, or the ’57 Chevy Bel Air convertible that his sister once totaled. With his iron resolve, he saved up for another Bel Air just for parts and repaired that convertible to the point that it looked almost new. At the age of 21, Earl enlisted in the Army during the Vietnam War. Always strong and brave he entered as a cook and quickly was reassigned to rifleman and paratrooper for his sharp shooting skills and athleticism. Earl became a member of the esteemed ‘101st Airborne, also known as the ‘Screaming Eagles’. Earl had his ‘Rendezvous with Destiny’ as it was known when he jumped out of planes down into the jungles of Vietnam releasing Agent Orange into the fields. Fortunately for Earl, his mother had two other sons serving in Vietnam at the time. Through an appeal to the US Senator of Rhode Island, Earl’s mother was able to initiate an emergency dispatch and have him airlifted out of combat.

Once Earl returned home from war he began the next chapter of his storied life by starting a beautiful family when he married Cathryn D. Brown, also of North Kingstown, RI. He and Cathy would go on to have two beloved children, Shani M. DeFina and Jaret E. Stickney over the next several years. Together they built their home, by hand, in Exeter, RI. As he attended vocational school at the University of Rhode Island, working part time in the welding division to earn his degree as a mechanic, he would go to his future home site on weekends with his daughter. He did the carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electricity, and even dug the well. Every part of their home was built with love.

Upon graduation from the vocational program at the University of Rhode Island, he went on to open two garages in his hometown of North Kingstown, RI. He was highly regarded as a trusted, competent mechanic and the community flocked to him for repairs. After a long career as a mechanic and ultimately a Shell Franchise Owner with convenience stores and repair stations, Earl decided to pursue his other passions. He closed the repair stations and stripped them of all their equipment, building and designing his own garage at his home in Exeter, Rhode Island. Fully equipped with hydraulic lifts and every apparatus you can imagine, Earl sawed the wood for the structure in his very own sawmill at the back of his house. With painstaking detail he built the garage of his dreams where he spent the rest of his life tinkering, teaching his son his trades and building.

But his garage wasn’t enough, Earl also went on to purchase his wife’s family farm just down the road from their home. There he would raise sheep, goats, horses and cows, ‘just for fun’. He maintained the fields and the barn, spending many years teaching his children to ride horses and take on good old fashioned farm hand type duties. Many beautiful times were had at the farm as it was later developed as a beautiful dahlia farm. Being the type of guy he was, he would later hand cut the dahlias and make table arrangements with his daughter Shani for her wedding. His farm in Exeter brought much joy to him throughout his life.

As a family man, Earl did it all. He was a devoted, loving father. Although stern at times, he was also the most loving. He instilled in his children the value of hard work with phrases like, “a little bit goes a long way”. “Hard makes easy, and easy makes hard”. Chopping wood together, digging fence posts and haying at the back of the house, it was all hands on deck at the Stickney household. At the same time, the family was surrounded by many of Earl and Cathy’s brothers and sisters and their parents. Family time was all the time. But he also knew how to have fun. Card nights, dinner parties and camping with friends were a weekly occurrence. Earl was a hard worker, but he liked having his fun too.

During this time of raising a family, he became an active member of his community. First he became the Building Inspector in their hometown of Exeter, RI. A position he would hold for over 10 years. He regularly visited homes and offered advice and counsel. But once his son was old enough, he would go on to one of his biggest sources of pride and joy; coaching Jaret in baseball. Earl was a successful and loving coach, admired and respected by every member of the team. He was an expert marksmen from the mound and could ‘pick his spot’, firing strikes for hours at a time. Nobody could match Coach Earl from the mound during a summer evening batting practice. Under his leadership, the ‘Hicks from the Sticks’ would win tournaments, and pursue state tiles, with an empty bench and pure passion.

As Shani and Jaret went off to college, Earl went on to pursue yet another passion – golf. A dear friend convinced him to take on the role of Director of Golf at Fenner Hill Golf Course. There he helped design the course, oversee operations, organized tournaments, repaired and maintained the equipment and the greens, and mostly was recognized as a genuine guy who made a connection with everyone who worked and played at the course. The years at the golf course were happy ones in Earl’s life, maybe it was because of golf, but most likely it was because of his grandchildren. Shani went on to marry George DeFina, a man like a son to Earl, and have three children, Taya, Payton and Cole. Earl would spend any time he could with them, pushing their carriage, taking them for sleepovers, traveling on vacations, playing golf, and just spending time at their home in Massachusetts being there to lend a helping hand. Jaret too would go on to marry Earl’s new beloved daughter, Anouschka Riley and they would have three children, Araya, Meret and Soren. Their greatest times were spent in Earls’ backyard driving the golf cart, getting rides on his tractors, having smores and running with his dog Ralph.

Also at this time, Earl would have the privilege of meeting his next partner in life, Marjorie Coutu. For the last 17 years, Earl shared happiness and laughs as he balanced his time between his and Marge’s home in Florida where they enjoyed golf and wonderful neighbors, and time in Rhode Island where they could regularly see their family and grandchildren. Earl also with love and caring, took on Marge’s large family including 2 boys, one granddaughter, one great granddaughter and all her family members as if it was his own.

Earl was an amazing father, friend, brother, grandfather and partner. Strong, brave and loved by all, he is survived by his brother Steve Stickney, his dear children, Shani DeFina and Jaret Stickney, and his six grandchildren. Dad, may your hands finally rest in peace.