| Graduation Year | Class of 1975 |
| Date of Passing | Mar 28, 2011 |
| About | IRVING, TX: Philip Michael Sheridan of Irving, TX died in his home on March 28, 2011 of natural causes. Mike was born on April 23, 1957 in Columbus, OH to Philip and Gretchen Sheridan. He moved to Zanesville in 1962 where he graduated from ZHS in 1975. He joined the United States Navy in June of that year and served as an Air Traffic Controller until his honorable discharge in 1986. He was stationed in the Philippines, the Naval Air Station in Meridian MS and was aboard the USS Saratoga during the 1985 Libyan conflict for which he received a Meritorious Service Award. Upon leaving the Navy he began a career as a respected and highly regarded pilot for TLC Air, Jet East and Flexjet. His time with these companies spanned nearly 25 years and included flying dignitaries such as George and Barbara Bush and Sam Walton of Wal-Mart. Mike's love of flying began as a young teen: he washed airplanes at the grass field airport in Zanesville in exchange for flying lessons. He rode his cherished, and very hip-for-the-times, banana seat bike down the back roads of Zanesville to the airport along the river. When he had paid his dues in soap and water he took to the skies and earned his private pilot's license by age 16. Perseverance in achieving his goals was evident at an early age and supported him throughout his life. Mike is survived by his father, Philip Sheridan of Arlington TX; four sisters, Christine Kelly of Boulder, CO, Julia Noble of Houston, TX, Barbara Hawkins of Midlothian, TX and Nancy Petrou of Arlington, TX; aunt and uncle, Harold and Nancy Cummins of Prescott Valley, AZ; and cousin, Cathy Schwartz of Jackson, Wyoming. Although Mike never married and did not have children, he had five nephews and four nieces upon whom he showered his love and generosity. Mike was preceded in death by his brother, Kevin, and mother, Gretchen Marie. In the year prior to his death Mike was striving to make career changes that would see him to retirement and beyond. Sadly, his death stopped short his personal reinvention and the experience of enjoyable retirement years. His smile, laughter and outrageous tales of flying adventures will be deeply missed by his family. Services will be held April 8th at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery; his ashes will be interned in the family niche. |
