Dr. Jerome K. Sherman

Born August 14, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York, parents Murray & Beatrice (Freilich) Sherman.

He was a retired professor of Anatomy UAMS (35 years)

Survived by his children, Karen (Little Rock), Marc wife Terri Cohen (Little Rock), Keith Sherman wife Melanie (Plano);

Grandchildren: Lori Vesole Fisher husband Evan (Atlanta), Steven Vesole wife Karen Vo (San Francisco) Elliott Sherman wife Elesia, Noah Sherman(Dallas), Matthew Sherman fiancée Roz Gray Bauer (Boston) and Rebecca Sherman (Little Rock) and great grandchildren Hannah & Jacob Fisher (Atlanta).

Preceded in death by Hildegard, his wife of more than sixty years; and by his son-in-law, Irving Balto.

Our Dad’s many loves included his family, fishing, friends, community service, and his work as an educator and scientist. Perhaps even in that order.

Jerry Sherman, the only child of working-class parents, attended Brooklyn College at age 16, then enlisted in the Navy to see the world during WWII and was on the first ship to dock in Nagasaki after the bombing. Upon his return, he entered Brown University to complete his undergrad degree. While working on his Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Iowa he met Hildegard Schroeder who became his wife in 1953. Their firstborn Karen moved with them to Madison, Wisconsin where their son Marc was born, followed by a permanent teaching position at UAMS in Little Rock, Arkansas, where they completed their family with their son Keith. In addition to work stateside, several sabbaticals abroad expanded the scope of his work including Germany (on a Fulbright Scholarship) and Taiwan with his family.

His work took international prestige as he founded Cryobanking with the creation of the American Association of Tissue Banks and is known as the “Father of Sperm-Banking”. To date, more than 2000 vials are used annually to help families conceive. He donated all of his findings to science. As he would say “Google me”.

In addition to research, Jerry was best known for his passion as a teacher. Working at UAMS from 1958-1992, he estimated that he taught more than 5,000 students over his career. He was proud of mentoring students and loved to host which created a newfound era of inclusivity in his program. Everywhere he went, he ran into a former student who spoke highly of his humor, creativity, and passion for teaching as he is affectionately known as Spermin’ Sherman.

Jerry's loves included fishing as much as possible, lunch at specific Chinese and Indian buffets, puppetry, classical music and the big band era, camping and travel. During his lifetime, he travelled to countless countries with innumerable stories and jokes to tell. He shared these with his family, friends and anyone along the way as this man never knew a stranger.

Jerry was a lifelong learner and servant. He enjoyed his courses at LifeQuest in his later years and always invested countless hours of community service at the Medical Center, Lions Club, the YMCA, VA, Temple B’Nai Israel, Boy Scouts, and founded the Jewish War Veterans AR Post 436. He was a staunch believer in equality and created inclusivity programs in the aforementioned affiliations. As a result he received countless awards for his volunteerism and work in Civil Rights including but not limited to: the Medical Center’s Chancellor’s Award, Presidential Gold Volunteer Award for the VA, Boy Scout’s Silver Beaver Award, founder of the Meet and Greet at Temple B’Nai Israel, Jewish Federation of ArkansasTikkum Olam Award, Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Iowa, and he was inducted into the Senior Arkansan Award for the Hall of Fame.

J. K . Sherman definitely left this world better than he found it. His memory will always be for a blessing...

A private family burial was held Sunday and a future Celebration of Life will be Sunday, January 7th, 2 pm at Temple B’nai Israel.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Synagogue Agudath Achim, Temple B’nai Israel, Boy Scouts of America/ Lions Club International.