Sherre Freedman

It is with great sorrow that the Freedman, Atkins, Mandell and Spooner families announce the passing of Sherre Freedman (née Mandell), 84, of North Hollywood, CA, on July 31, 2025. Sherre’s spirit slipped quietly away after a sudden, severe illness which took her much too soon.

Sherre was a talented therapist, writer, and photographer, a businesswoman who helped her devoted husband Irving build their joint family counseling/hypnotherapy business, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, a caring big sister, and a support to the many whose lives she touched.

Sherre was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1940 to Irving and Florence Mandell and was the oldest of her two sisters, Judith Mandell and Beverly Mandell Spooner. In 1950 the family moved to Philadelphia, PA, where Sherre attended Northeast High School before going to work at Litt Brother’s Department Store. An early marriage yielded two beautiful daughters, Mindee and Marjorie Atkins.

Sherre, who had a talent for entrepreneurship and a soft spot for anything furry, opened her own dog-grooming salon in Philly, and later California, in the late 1970s. Animals always found their way to her, and her cherished puppy, Trixie, was the most recent darling of her life.

Sherre met her second husband Irv, when Irv’s school-aged sons, Scott and Randy—and Sherre’s two daughters—conspired to bring their parents together. Once the two became a couple and moved the family to California, Sherre and Irv went back to college, earning Bachelor’s degrees from Union College, and Master’s degrees in Psychology/Marriage and Family Counseling from William Lyon University. Together they opened a counseling practice in North Hollywood, CA.

One of the highlights of Sherre’s career was teaching medical professionals the traditional counseling and innovative hypnotherapy techniques that had helped countless patients achieve healing and wholeness. Alongside Irv, Sherre taught classes and seminars nationally and internationally for various schools of higher education, including Cal Lutheran College, and UCLA’s nursing program, as well as the nursing programs of Santa Monica College, Pasadena College, Pierce College, and Valley College. They also taught free self-improvement classes to the public.

Sherre was a force of nature, the backbone of our family. She kept everyone connected, supporting each of us through our personal problems--always there for us through every family crisis.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Irving and Florence Mandell, her beloved husband, Irving Freedman, her eldest daughter, Mindee Atkins Walters, and her stepsons, Scott and Randy Freedman. She’s survived by daughter Marjorie Atkins, grandchildren Joshua Freedman (Molly), Tara Atkins-Wightman (David), and Robert Weinshank, and grandchildren Daisy, Nora, Evelyn, and Elizabeth Freedman.

Sherre was and is beloved by her family and the many friends she kept close ties with throughout the eight decades of her life. At the news of her passing, numerous clients reached out to us, sharing their stories of how her wisdom, empathy, and therapeutic skills helped transform their lives.

Sherre was so alive. It’s hard to believe she is gone.

A memorial service for Sherre will be held Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM PST at:

Groman-Eden Mortuary - Eternal Light Chapel

—White Building—

11500 Sepulveda Blvd.

Mission Hills, CA 91345

A livestream will be available at: GromanEdenMortuary.livecontrol.tv/b0556414

(Sign in with your name and email address to access the livestream.)

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Operation Blankets of Love, www.blanketsoflove.org.