Sherman Larry Vinyard, 82, passed away due to complications from Parkinson’s disease on Thursday, June 26, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. He was born July 1, 1942, in Seguin, Texas to Sherman and Cora (Stephens) Vinyard.
He grew up in Seguin, Texas and graduated from Texas Lutheran University with a degree in accounting. He served as a Colonel in the field artillery in the United States Army and the Texas Army National Guard for many decades, with service in the Republic of Vietnam from 1966-1967. He was inducted into the Field Artillery Hall of Fame at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 2008. He was awarded the Honorable Order of St. Barbara and the Ancient Order of St. Barbara for exceptional service and contributions to the U.S. Army Field Artillery.
He worked for the Texas State Auditors Office as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, Chartered Global Management Accountant, Certified Government Financial Manager, Certified Fraud Examiner, and Certified Risk Management Assurance. He retired from the State Auditor’s office in 1996, but he was far from done working. He began teaching accounting courses at Austin Community College and doing consultant auditing work for Texas State University in San Marcos. His students consistently reported his classes were exceptionally difficult; however, he had the highest rate of students passing the CPA examination on the first attempt. After his time teaching and consulting, he went to work for the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2004 in the Office of Business Oversight as a Lead Auditor in the Internal Controls Service division. After four failed attempts, he officially retired from everything in September 2015, for real.
He absolutely LOVED all things baseball. He played in little league and pony league as a kid, then umpired baseball games, played softball with the State Auditor’s Office, and watched any baseball game on TV. If you asked him who he wanted to win he would always say, “I just want to see a good game.” He had a deep love for his country, a strong ethical character with integrity beyond reproach, was unwaveringly determined, and incessantly stubborn.
He is preceded in death by his mother and father, Sherman and Cora Vinyard, brother-in law Stephen Anthony Alblinger and sister-in-law Lloydine Vinyard. He is survived by his wife of 47 years Naomi Vinyard; daughters Carolyn Brown and her husband Daryl, and Rachel Hayse and her husband Ryan; grandchildren Ellie Brown, Wyatt Hayse, and Duncan Hayse, and brothers Jerry Vinyard and Keith Vinyard and his wife Fran. He is also survived by numerous cousins, nieces and nephews, and friends.
A visitation will be held Friday, July 11, 2025 in Georgetown, TX at the Ramsey Funeral Home & Crematorium from 4-6pm with a brief service following. A graveside service with military honors will be held at the Moulton City Cemetery, Saturday July 12th at 10:30 am with lunch to follow at the American Legion in Moulton, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial donations be made to The Salvation Army or the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation.