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Sheridan’s legislative tenure coincided with that of legendary state Senator [[B. B.  "Sixty" Rayburn]], Sr., of Bogalusa. Until 1968, he and two other members served in an at-large district including Washington Parish. Sheridan then served in District 75, while colleague [[Ed Scogin]] of Slidell, won the District 76 seat. Sheridan was defeated for an eighth term in the legislature in the nonpartisan blanket primary in 1987 by the Democrat, later [[Republican Party|Republican]], [[Jerry Thomas (Louisiana politician)|Jerry Thomas]], a [[physician]] from Franklinton,  who was then serving as the coroner of Washington Parish. Thomas polled 9,266 votes (60.2 percent) to Sheridan's 6,121 (39.8 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State,  Election Returns, October 24, 1987.</ref> In 1991, Sheridan sought a comeback but again lost to Thomas by an identical percent: 6,312 (39.8) to 9,532 (60.2 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref> Senator Rayburn, meanwhile, was finally defeated in the 1995 [[general election]] by the Republican retired military officer Phil Short, who served only three years of a single term. Short in 1999 was succeeded for five years by Sheridan’s House successor, Dr. Jerry Thomas.

Sheridan’s legislative tenure coincided with that of legendary state Senator [[B. B.  "Sixty" Rayburn]], Sr., of Bogalusa. Until 1968, he and two other members served in an at-large district including Washington Parish. Sheridan then served in District 75, while colleague [[Ed Scogin]] of Slidell, won the District 76 seat. Sheridan was defeated for an eighth term in the legislature in the nonpartisan blanket primary in 1987 by the Democrat, later [[Republican Party|Republican]], [[Jerry Thomas (Louisiana politician)|Jerry Thomas]], a [[physician]] from Franklinton,  who was then serving as the coroner of Washington Parish. Thomas polled 9,266 votes (60.2 percent) to Sheridan's 6,121 (39.8 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State,  Election Returns, October 24, 1987.</ref> In 1991, Sheridan sought a comeback but again lost to Thomas by an identical percent: 6,312 (39.8) to 9,532 (60.2 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref> Senator Rayburn, meanwhile, was finally defeated in the 1995 [[general election]] by the Republican retired military officer Phil Short, who served only three years of a single term. Short in 1999 was succeeded for five years by Sheridan’s House successor, Dr. Jerry Thomas.

Sheridan died at the age of eighty-one at the LSU Washington-St. Tammany Regional Medical Center in Bogalusa. He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Melba Spencer (1919-1993).<ref name=ssdi/> Survivors included a daughter, Peggy Sheridan Arcement (born December 21, 1950), and her husband, George J. Arcement Jr. (born September 29, 1949), of [[Baton Rouge]]; a son, Dennis A. Sheridan (born 1953)  and wife, Paula Mangum Sheridan (born 1954), of Whittier, [[California]]; four grandsons, Brad Joseph Arcement, David Arcement, Samuel Sheridan, and Kevin Sheridan, and a niece, Sue Sheridan Gardener of Bogalusa.<ref name=obit/>

Sheridan died at the age of eighty-one at the LSU Washington-St. Tammany Regional Medical Center in Bogalusa. He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Melba Spencer (1919-1993).<ref name=ssdi/> Survivors included a daughter, Peggy Sheridan Arcement (born December 21, 1950), and her husband, George J. Arcement, Jr. (born September 29, 1949), of [[Baton Rouge]]; a son, Dennis A. Sheridan (born 1953)  and wife, Paula Mangum Sheridan (born 1954), of Whittier, [[California]]; four grandsons, Brad Joseph Arcement, David Arcement, Samuel Sheridan, and Kevin Sheridan, and a niece, Sue Sheridan Gardener of Bogalusa.<ref name=obit/>

Services were held at the Angie Baptist Church. Interment, with military rites, was at Spencer Cemetery in Enon in Washington Parish.<ref name=obit/>

Services were held at the Angie Baptist Church. Interment, with military rites, was at Spencer Cemetery in Enon in Washington Parish.<ref name=obit/>