Green Hero...Floyd Sherburne

By now you know that Green Seniors champions a wide variety of people through its series on Green Heroes.  Floyd Sherburne, age 98, came to our attention through an article in a local American newspaper (Des Moines Register, December 9, 2007) describing the amazing life he had led for the past three decades. 

Until retirement at age 65  in 1974, Floyd’s life seems to have been like many others.  He married, raised a family, and worked hard to achieve a small savings.  Then he dropped a bombshell on his adult children:  he was going to buy an old farm acreage in a wooded area, build a house from the ground up with his own hands, and live off the land. And he  did just that—and lived there with his wife Florence for 31 happy years.  That may not seem like a very unusual story, until you know some of the details.      

It took nearly all Floyd’s savings to buy the land.  He tore down some old farm outbuildings on his property and used the wood from the two barns to build his home. He hauled native rock in buckets up to the homesite for the massive fireplace he would build to heat both levels of the 3,500 square foot home.  He salvaged shingles and nails from old buildings, and he bought the windows and doors at a closeout sale—including five picture windows for viewing the wildlife that would come to the bird feeders, bird baths, and the salt lick he provided. 

The wild turkeys and deer had nothing to fear, for Floyd did not hunt.  Rather, he and Florence kept a huge garden that provided most of their sustenance, even grinding grain for flour.  They planted an orchard and gathered berries and nuts.  Their vegan diet was a personal choice they made, stemming from a love of nature and a deep religious faith.

As decades passed, they continued their regular walks in the woods and growing their garden, even as they had to start supplementing their wood fireplace with electric heat.  After suffering a broken shoulder, Floyd was not able to haul enough wood.  They continued on, however, even when Florence became frail and needed a walker, and Floyd became blind from macular degeneration.

Eventually the passing of years forced Floyd and Florence to leave their beloved home in the woods.  In  2007, Florence, now aged  97, needed care in a nursing home.  Floyd moved with her to remain at her side.  She lived on for only about a month.  A widower at 98, Floyd sold his land and home at a bargain price to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and now lives with a daughter in another state.   His land became part of the state park which adjoined it, and his home will become a vacation lodge for park visitors.

 

Many families will benefit from Floyd and Florence’s work for years to come.  His daughter says she will bring Floyd back, as a lodge guest in his former home, in May 2009 when the family gathers to celebrate Floyd’s 100th birthday in the park. 

Floyd, you don’t know you are a Green Hero, but on behalf of all Green Seniors, we send you our admiration for a life well lived, and for a happy 99th birthday this month.

 

Comments

[Barclay S. Hunt]

Yes, Floyd Sherburne is a hero of every color. Floyd is my maternal Grandfather. In my early teens I spent a large part of the summer helping Gramps tear down old barns, straighten nails, trench in by hand the footings and the plumbing for his dream home. Grandpa and Grandma went so much farther than "green". They cared for the needy whether it was family,friend or stranger,in their community. They had a strong and beautiful relationship with God and with each other. We all miss Grandma but we know that she is resting in the bossum of God. Quite possibly, Floyd and Florence invented "green", everything was used. It wasn't just the last 32 years that they lived as they did. It began in the early '50's. I feel extremely honored to have their blood in my veins. Floyd is an extrodinary man and Florence was and extrodinary woman and God blessed them with riches beyond this earth. I want to thank you for putting this small part of his story on your site. I wish you could all meet him. He is the definition of a God fearing man who has and still does extend his hand to any who might need it. Thanks again, Barclay S. Hunt

[Joyce Emery]

It is a great pleasure for Green Seniors to hear from Floyd's family! Thank you very much for sharing your view as his grandson. I especially liked learning of your grandparents' care for the needy in their community--also that in the 1950's, when ordinary Americans began turning towards a lifestyle of consumption in the post-war era, your grandparents took the opposite direction.

Please convey our admiration and best wishes to your Grandfather and to the rest of your family.

[Tom C Cooper]

Floyd is truly a Green Hero in every sense. He has been my father-in-law for 25 years and currently lives with his daughter Nyla and me in suburban Atlanta. I have spent an average of about 3 weeks a year with him and his late wife Florence at their wonderful home-in-the-woods-with-nature in Guthrie County, Iowa. I grew to love him as a unassuming, sincere, honest, totally unselfish human with a strong relationship with his maker. He cared for our planet earth and all his natural surroundings. He appreciated the abundance of nature and never wasted a seed, fruit, vegetable, berry or a nut. He has impacted my life enormously and I am blessed to know him and to have him in the next room while I write this. He has become a hit in our subdivision with with his daily walks. And thanks to Green Hero's writer for expertly capturing the essence of this wonderful man.

[Joyce Emery]

We at Green Seniors see that from the family's testimony, Floyd is much more than a Green Hero. To have set an example throughout life that brings gratitude and reverence from friends and family--what higher achievement is there? Floyd grew more than plants and reaped a harvest having many dimensions, a harvest that keeps on giving.

[taran sherburne floydes great great nephew]

it was such a fun time going to his place and working in the garden and mowing his lawn, but in the winter it was terrible to git up the driveway. one winter we had to walk up the drive way to get to there house, but i still miss going there in the summer and winter.