Sheila Mary Sugarman

Beloved mother and cherished grandmother, accomplished writer and editor

Sheila Mary Raffel Sugarman, 87, passed away peacefully on August 16, 2017 at Daughters of Israel Skilled Nursing Facility in West Orange NJ, surrounded by her loving family.

The daughter and only child of Lillian and Joseph Raffel, Sheila was a native of Coney Island and Brooklyn NY. She was a graduate of Erasmus Hall High School and then “a subway scholar,” proudly earning a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Advertising from the NYU School of Commerce. While in college, she was on the staff of the newspaper and a member of the Mu Kappa Tau Marketing Society.

Early in her career, Sheila was a Copy Writer and Feature Editor of marketing materials and articles for Milton Biow Advertising (New York City.) While raising her family, she returned to work part-time, writing and editing brochures for various organizations including the Animal Rescue League (Newton MA), Butcher & Singer Brokerage (Philadelphia PA) and W.B. Saunders Publishing (Philadelphia PA.)

In retirement, she became a community leader as the President of the Single Homeowners Association, and Feature Editor for the Greenbriar at Whittingham (Monroe Township NJ) newspaper. There she gained celebrity as creator and author of the “Meet your Neighbors” newspaper column. Beyond her accomplishments at the community newspaper, Sheila was involved in a variety of organizations including Hadassah, the Brandeis Book Club and local Wine, Dine and Theatre groups.

Sheila will be remembered as creative, outspoken, “punny” and highly organized. Her talents included early adoption of personal computers at a time when many of her contemporaries shied away from technology. Using her first Mac, she created greeting cards for family and friends, wrote columns and letters, and traversed the web with gravitas. Other hobbies included sewing, baking, swimming, reading and gardening. She also enjoyed frequent travel to exotic destinations including Europe, Israel, Russia, China, and South America, and would routinely share details of her adventures through her writing, art and collectibles.

Sheila was predeceased by Elliot Sugarman, her husband of 42 years. Surviving are her daughters Amy (David) Perlin of New York City, Carol (Brian) Sosner of Maryland and Cape Cod MA and four loving grandsons, Joshua, Daniel, Lenny and Jonathan.

In her memory, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at 225 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 1700, Chicago, IL 60601 or via www.alz.org.