Sherwin Radka was a pillar of the Oakfield community through his adult life.
After his World War II Navy service as a Morse Code operator, he completed his Business Administration degree at University at Buffalo and returned to Oakfield, becoming postmaster at the age of 33, eventually moving on to that role in the larger East Aurora Post Office.
Elected to the Board of Education in 1961, he served for 15 years, eight of them as president and four as vice president. Working with the Oakfield Citizens planning committee, Sherwin was instrumental in the planning of the new elementary school, which opened in 1969. He was given the honor of turning the first shovel for the groundbreaking ceremonies.
Additionally, Sherwin was an active fire fighter in the Oakfield Fire Department, serving as secretary of the department, calling bingo for them, and organizing the finances for their annual carnival. Other roles he played included co-chair of the Genesee United Fund appeal, president of the Oakfield-Alabama Lions Club, chairman of the Oakfield Citizens Planning Committee, elder of The First Presbyterian Church, superintendent of its Sunday school, and chairman of its Board of Trustees. Sherwin was on the committee that organized the annual Christian Leadership Breakfast, an event attracting participants from several counties in New York State. In his later years, he was a member of the Oakfield Historical Society.
He married his wife Valera in 1947, a marriage lasting until her death 74 years later. Sherwin was a father to a daughter Gayle and a son Jeffrey, and had four grandchildren and six great grandchildren. He passed away in 2021 at the age of 95.