Rev. Charles Melvin Sherrod, an American minister and civil rights activist whose grassroots organising of unregistered black voters shook the segregated South and sparked the Albany Movement, has died. He was 85.
According to his family, Sherrod died of natural causes at his home in Albany on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at 3:45 p.m.
“He was a great husband, a great father and a great servant to his community,” Sherrod’s wife of 56 years, Shirley Miller Sherrod, said. “His life serves as a shining example of service to one’s fellow man.”
Sherrod is survived by two adult children, Russia Sherrod of Albany and Kenyatta Sherrod of Marietta, as well as five grandchildren, Kourtney (Charles III) Sherrod Corbin of Auburn, Ala., Mia Sherrod of Dallas, Kiera Sherrod of Marietta, Simone Sherrod of Marietta, and Khloe Sherrod of Albany.
Sherrod’s funeral will take place Saturday, October 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church, 901 S. Westover Blvd. in Albany.
Interment will take place at New Communities at Cypress Pond, located at 801 Old Pretoria Road in Albany. A meal will be served at New Communities.