PASSAIC COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
MEMORANDUM

TO: COLLEGE COMMUNITY

FROM: Kenneth E. Wright, Acting President

RE: Our Colleague Florence (Sis) Sherman

DATE: January 3, 1979

I have the grieviously unpleasant duty to officially inform you of what many have undoubtedly already heard. Florence Sherman whose spirit touched our lives in many ways has passed away. She has been a part of this College from the day it opened playing the role of student, alumna, tutor, faculty member, and friend. She was the winner of the Robert A. Shea Memorial Award in 1974. That, as you know, is the award presented by the faculty to the student who demonstrates outstanding service and dedication to the College. She was the founder and first editor of the College student newspaper. She was the founder and first editor of the College yearbook. She won the Educational Opportunity Fund Academic Achievement Award. She was the founder and the first and only (to date) president of the College Alumni Association. She won the Alumni Award in 1977. In the current semester she had been an Adjunct Professor of Psychology. Subsequent to her graduation from Passaic County Community College, she achieved a Bachelors Degree from Columbia University in Psychology and this month will be posthumously awarded a Masters Degree in Psychology from Fairleight Dickinson University for her work there.

But none of this describes what Florence Sherman meant to this College. This vivacious and dynamic lady whom we all knew as Sis graced our presence with a vitality which belied enormous burdens which she rose above. Serious Medical problems gave her great difficulty throughout the entire period she was associated with the College leaving her with several difficult obstacles, legal blindness and partial paralysis among them. She did not complain or even seem to be aware that her burden in life was greater than others may experience. She refused to allow others to be affected by her burdens and, as a result, many were unaware of their nature and extent. She complained little, asked for nothing, and gave much. Clearly Sis personifies the courage, the dedication, and the spirit needed for community college students in general and for a college such as ours in particular.

We can hope that although we will no longer be blessed with her presence, she will continue among us in spirit. Her inspiration can help us be cheerful in the face of adversity as she was.

My sister was afflicted with an unknown virus that caused her blood to clot. Within a few weeks she was legally blind, as the small arteries that fed her eyes were the first to close. In spite of this condition, she completed her education by reading and writing her assignments with her only functional eye, from a distance of six or seven inches. She worked nights and weekends to feed, cloth and house herself and with the aid of a few scholarships she was able to get by. She taught her last college class one week before she died of a blood clot in her brain, at 8:10 pm Eastern Time on December 31, 1978.