Cathy Sherman

YORK Cathy Sherman, 59, beloved wife, mother, sister, family member, and friend, passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning, May 15, 2011, in her West Manchester home following a nearly two-year battle with brain cancer. She was surrounded in her last moments, as she was during the rest of her life, by her loving and grateful family. Born November 25, 1951, in Des Moines, Iowa, to parents, (late) Marjorie Mering and Frank W. Sherman, Cathy's family moved from the Midwest (including a stay in Kansas City, Mo.), to Old Greenwich, Conn., where Cathy spent most of her younger years. After attending Smith College where she graduated in 1973, Cathy travelled to Europe where she met future husbandm Henrik Klinge. Cathy and Henrik soon found themselves deeply in love and living together in Denmark where they were able to explore Europe together. Camping on the Italian Riviera, in the Spanish countryside, or just taking in the sights on the Autobahn as the world rushed by, Henrik and Cathy truly enjoyed their lives together and all of their friends and family in Denmark. Following this period, Henrik settled into the family business and Cathy learned to speak Danish fluently, earned a teaching degree and taught in Denmark, where their two children, Allan and Sanne, were born. In 1986, Henrik and Cathy moved the family to York to run Klinge Corporation and to offer the children the experience of growing up in yet another country. In addition, Cathy was happy to be closer to her family. Cathy worked for KC, but also used much of her time to help others, including teaching students with disabilities, being a teaching aide, and then eventually turning her attention towards researching kidney cancer in 2000 after a family member was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, Birt Hogg DubÈ syndrome. Cathy quickly realized how few doctors where familiar with BHD and how easily patients had one or more kidneys removed that could have been saved if the cancer had been correctly diagnosed as BHD, so she dedicated her life to helping others by spreading the word on BHD and sharing the information she had collected via numerous chat rooms and discussion groups, and then by founding the Birt Hogg DubÈ Family Alliance and website www.birthoggdube.org. In addition to answering calls and emails with questions about the disease nearly 24 hours a day, Cathy also became the primary responder to requests for information on kidney cancer from Kidney-Onc list subscribers. For her tremendous efforts in encouraging research and spreading knowledge of kidney cancer and BHD, Cathy was formally recognized in 2009 by an international group of researchers and medical professionals and the charity the Myrovlytis Trust and again in 2011 by Kidney-ONC. Some of her many other interests were art and museums, reading, "mudslinging" pottery classes, and vacationing with her friends and family. As a mother, wife, friend, teacher, researcher/ advocate, and family member, Cathy's true gift was her ability to give and to care for others. She was and will continue to be an inspiration to all that knew her and her spirit will live in each one of the hearts she touched during her incredible journey through life. Cathy is survived by her husband, Henrik Klinge; son, Allan Klinge and wife, Sarah; daughter, Sanne Klinge and husband, James Cartledge; sister, Meg Sherman and husband, Charlie; brother, Andy Sherman and wife, Thyra; brother, Tom Sherman; as well as many other family members and friends who feel lucky to have had the privilege of having Cathy in their lives. The family will hold a private celebration of life ceremony and requests that anyone wanting to honor Cathy's memory send donations for cancer research to The National Cancer Institute, Building 31, Room 11A-16, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892. The John W. Keffer Funeral Homes and Crematory, Inc., 2114 W. Market St., York, is assisting the family with arrangements. KefferFH.com