Bill Sheridan

Mr. George William “Bill” Sheridan, 88, passed away peacefully Tuesday, October 27, 2026, surrounded by his loving family.

Born on December 29, 1937, in Detroit, MI, he was the oldest of three sons of the late Claude Henry Sheridan and Emily Estelle Gerard Sheridan. Growing up in Detroit and later in Royal Oak, a nearby suburb, he graduated from Royal Oak High School in 1956; he then attended Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, MI, where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and majored in marketing.

The United States military and Army service brought him south from his native Midwest, first to Ft. Jackson, SC and later on assignment at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, GA. It was in Atlanta where he met his wife, Nancy Louise Allen, and they made their home in Smyrna, in neighboring Cobb County. After work in the advertising and television/radio sectors, he assumed the job as general manager at WDIZ, an Orlando-based radio station, bringing his family to central Florida. They settled in Longwood and later Winter Springs, where they lived for a total of forty-two years. Further work in Orlando included stints at both WFTV Channel 9 (ABC) and WESH Channel 2 (NBC).

Three faith communities nurtured Bill’s quiet faith over his life while providing life-long friends, including Peachtree Road United Methodist in Atlanta, GA, where they married and had their three children baptized and St. Mark’s Presbyterian, in Altamonte Springs, FL, where he was active in the men’s group, served on the Session as an elder, and sang in the choir. After their move to northeast Georgia in 2019, he and Nancy joined Hartwell First Methodist Church, where he was active in the Thursday morning men’s prayer group and a member of the Joyful Holland Sunday School class.

If you ever engaged in conversation with Bill, you realized quickly he enjoyed opportunities to connect with people about their families and personal interests. He never met a stranger. Additionally, he never saw a college or university campus he could pass up without visiting (much to the chagrin of his cantankerous teenage children in the backseat on trips). His love of music manifested throughout the family, and his passion for college athletics, especially college football, remained fervent to the end, especially for his beloved Ferris State Bulldogs, Florida State Seminoles, and his native state Michigan Wolverines. You might have heard him even utter a “Go Dawgs” a time or two, owing to his first date with Nancy, a UGA alum, at the UGA-Auburn game in Athens in the fall of 1964.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy Allen Sheridan, of Hartwell, GA; daughter Kimberly Lynn Sheridan Butler (Matthew) of Bowersville, GA; and two sons, David Allen Sheridan of Lake Arrowhead, CA and Douglas Gerard Sheridan (Su Lin) of Winter Park, FL; six beloved grandchildren: Sheridan Grace Butler of Bowersville, GA, Maia Elizabeth Wohlcke Sheridan of Santa Monica, CA, Cian Alexander Wohlcke Sheridan of Orange, CA (and Maia and Cian’s mother, Anne-Elizabeth Wohlcke of Orange, CA), Noah Connor Sheridan of Winter Park, FL, Luke Riley Sheridan of Tucson, AZ, and Andrew Lin Sheridan of Winter Park, FL; and one brother, Robert Michael Sheridan of Grand Blanc, MI, and many nieces and nephews. Bill is preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Thomas Craig Sheridan.

Bill’s greatest legacy is not what he left behind, but the love he gave, the passions he demonstrated, the lives he enriched, and the memories he created, especially with his beloved family and wife of sixty-one years, which will remain and resonate for years to come.

A service of celebration and remembrance will be held on Friday, November 6, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at the Hartwell First Methodist Church, with Dr. R. Allen Stewart and Rev. Matt Parker officiating. A reception will follow the service in the Fellowship Hall.

Flowers are optional and memorials may be made to the Music and Worship Fund at Hartwell First Methodist Church, 200 E. Howell Street, Hartwell, GA 30643.

The Strickland Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Hartwell is assisting the family with all of the arrangements.