Sherman Jacobson

JACOBSON, SHERMAN Sherman Jacobson, an honorable man, died at the age of 87, Sunday, April 21, 2013, surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren at home in Orange, Connecticut. Sherman dedicated his life to his family, his community and to Jewish tradition. A charismatic man, Sherman, always had a story that would leave you chuckling. He had a way of finding the quality in others that made them special. One of his favorite activities was reading of the NY Times from cover to cover and then engaging others in stimulating discussion. He was a man of integrity. As an entrepreneur, he was the owner of Zemel Bros., a chain of appliance stores in New Haven and Fairfield counties. Later he had a successful real estate investment business in New Haven. To give to charity was his pride and joy. He felt it a Mitzvah, or responsibility, to be philanthropic and to support the commmunity. Yet what gave him the most meaning in life was his family and his love of Judaism. At age 73, Sherman had an idea. He wanted to see what could be done to make the holocaust memory a more regular part of the synogogue service. He wanted to invite the words of survivors into our services, but not primarily as teachings about hatred and death but as teachings of life, ethics, decency and love. And what evolved was the book, "Remembering for Life," published in 2006, a collection of Holocaust survivors' stories. Sherman is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ruth, his daughters and their husbands, Lynne and Mark Schpero, Caren Jacobson and Blair Roberts, and Susan and Elliot Berman. He leaves his grandchildren, Elissa and David Garlick, Jessica Schpero, Sam, David and Ben Roberts, and Josh and Jake Schwartz. He is also survived by his older sister Ceilia Brod, and many loving nieces and nephews. Funeral Services at Cong. B'nai Jacob, 75 Rimmon Rd., Woodbridge, TUESDAY morning (TODAY) at 11:00 o'clock with Interment Services to follow at B'nai Jacob Memorial Park, Wintergreen Ave., New Haven. Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, Cong. B'nai Jacob, or the Southern Ct. Hebrew Academy. A Period of Mourning will be observed at 394 Drummond Rd., Orange, CT 1p.m.-3p.m. and 7p.m.-9p.m. until Sunday, April 28th excluding Shabbat, Friday night and all of Saturday. Funeral Arrangements in care of Robert E. Shure Funeral Home, New Haven. www.shurefuneralhome.com