Dr. Ronald Sherman Ph.D., MBA, JD, CFA

1941 - 2023

Sherman Dr. Ronald -- Ph.D., MBA, JD, CFA September 5, 1941 - April 25, 2023 A genius whose brain was outmatched by his heart, Dr. Ronald Sherman - Ph.D., MBA, JD, CFA - passed away last year at age 81. This is not the timeliest obituary, but more a formal marking of the first anniversary of his death, a printed Yahrzeit candle. Born "a minute to midnight," at 11:59 P.M. on September 5, 1941, the oldest child of Jack and Bess Sherman, Ron grew up in West Philadelphia, adored by his parents, his younger brother Bob, and all four immigrant grandparents. What the family lacked in material possessions, it more than made up for in intellect, music, and a gift for hard work - often in Jack's Junk Shop, his father's business. One of Ron's most prized possessions was the ham radio he built and operated in his early teens, which still functions today. Ron's extraordinary intellect was noted from the start. Ron went to elementary school at William Cullen Bryant School, then the William L. Sayre Junior High School, after which he tested into Philadelphia's Central High School, entering with the 211th class, but graduating at age 16 with the 210th class. He became the first member of his family to graduate from college. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. After being courted for graduate school by Penn, Princeton, and M.I.T., he decided on Harvard, where he spent a year doing graduate work in applied mathematics. There, in October 1962, amidst the Cuban Missile Crisis, at a Brandeis mixer one night, Ron met his first "beshert." Ron crossed the room, introduced himself to an undergraduate junior named Barbara, and invited her to the theater to see "Under Milk Wood." They fell deeply in love, married in 1964, and had two children: their older son, Scott, born in 1966, and their younger son, Jonathan, born in 1968. Ron returned to Penn, where he received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at age 23. Ron earned his MBA from Columbia in 1981 and J.D. from Rutgers Law School in 1993 - he studied at 3 of the 8 Ivies and 4 of the 9 continental colleges. Ron attained Master of the Bench of the John C. Lifland American Inn of Court. He also became a CFA, a member of the patent bar, taught as an adjunct professor at both the Columbia University School of Business and Stevens Institute of Technology, took fiction and screenwriting classes, and got himself a couple of patents along the way. After receiving his doctorate, Ron went to work at Bell Labs, where he would stay for over 3 and 1/2 decades (from July of 1965 until he retired in 2001), working in a dazzling assortment of capacities during his career, following his interests wherever they took him, making important contributions in many different areas along the way, none of them comprehensible to his two sons, who would often just say, "Dad works for the phone company." Dad was a key part of the brain trust of Bell Labs mathematicians and engineers who located the ill-fated nuclear submarine USS Scorpion in 1968 using the SOSUS system. Ron was the supervisor and lead author of the important text "EMP Engineering and Design Principles" (1975, Bell Labs). In 1968, the family settled in Livingston, NJ, in a new house where Ron would live for over half a century. A family tragedy came in 1975 with the death by suicide of Ron's beloved wife, Barbara. Ron immediately knew he now had only one goal: raising his sons to adulthood. This 34-year-old man who'd always naturally led with his formidable brain instantly pivoted. From that point on, it was Ron's even more formidable heart that guided the family through trauma and heartbreak and grief. To say his dedication to fatherhood was above and beyond is a massive understatement. There has never been a better father. All Dad ever wanted his sons to do with their lives was to figure out what they loved doing and to do that, to find kind people to love and be with. In 1984, Ron himself did just that. He attended a Widows and Widowers meeting, where he met his second "beshert," Judy Fleischer. Their first date was to see a performance of "Sunday in the Park with George." Ron and Judy dated for 17 years before officially marrying in 2001. Their devotion to one another was total, and a wonder to witness. They were together until Judy's death, at their home, on February 11, 2021. Ron took great delight in his beautiful and brilliant daughters-in-law and his four wonderful grandchildren, all of whom could simply do no wrong in his eyes. When he was in hospice care, Ron said clearly and repeatedly that he was not scared of dying, that he was ready to go and that he considered himself to have had a blessed life. More than once, he also asked, "Why is this taking so long?" Ron has now gone to join Barbara, Judy, his parents and brother, and all of his ancestors to that great, mysterious cosmic reunion, whatever it may be. We love you, Daddy. You always will be a hero to your sons, who will love and miss you forever, beyond words. Rest easy now, free from all pain. As you told us so often, "Sleep is good." W2GVA ... _._ On Friday, April 28, 2023, after a funeral service in Livingston, NJ, Ron was buried next to his beloved Judy, at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, NJ. Survivors include his beloved sons Scott Daniel Sherman (Marni Zarin) and Jonathan Marc Sherman (Alexandra Shiva); his four beloved grandchildren: Benjamin, Jack, Samuel, and Theadora; along with many cherished friends and family members. The family requests that perhaps the next time you just happen to find yourself watching a great movie in a movie theater or kicking back reading "The Feynman Lectures on Physics," you smile and think of Ron.