Memorial Service for Sheridans Set for Tuesday, October 7

John Sheridan
John Sheridan

John Sheridan and Joyce Sheridan will be remembered Tuesday at a memorial service at the Patriots Theatre at the War Memorial in Trenton.

John Sheridan, 72, was  the president and CEO of the Cooper University Health System in Camden. Joyce Sheridan, 69, was a retired school teacher.

The couple died in a house fire in their Montgomery home last Sunday. The cause of the fire is still being determined, but investigators say the fire was  intentional.

John Sheridan joined Cooper as senior executive vice president in July 2005. He became chief administrative officer in 2007 and president of Cooper University Hospital in September 2007 and was appointed president and CEO of The Cooper Health System in 2008.

Sheridan served on the boards of trustees of the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals and the New Jersey Hospital Association and served on the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey board and executive committee and on Gov. Christie’s health-care transition subcommittee in 2010. He was a member of the board of trustees for the Carrier Clinic for 25 years.

He was New Jersey commissioner of transportation under Gov. Thomas H. Kean and served as New Jersey deputy attorney general and assistant counsel for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and was counsel for the New Jersey Senate majority. He served in the Army from 1968 to 1978, and graduated from St. Peter’s College and Rutgers Law School.

Joyce Sheridan worked in the South Brunswick school district for many years.

The Sheridans have four grown sons and several grandchildren. The sons are Matt, Dan, Tim and Mark, who serves as general counsel for the New Jersey Republican State Committee.

The family plans to receive visitors Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., The service will begin at 11 a.m. A private funeral is planned.

This week the sons issued a joint statement saying the deaths were a tragedy to everyone who knew and loved their parents.

“We ask everyone to remember them as the wonderful parents and friends they were. Remember them as two people who loved each other, their family, and their friends generously and unconditionally. Remember their smiles, their hugs, and their laughter. Remember them as people who brought out the best in everyone around them,” they said in the statement. “We cannot fathom, much less explain, the circumstances of their passing. Losing a parent is painful. Losing them both has been excruciating and we ask everyone to respect our need to privately grieve, process our loss, and support each other as the family our parents raised us to be.”

In lieu of flowers,  the family is asking that donations be made to the following organizations that were an important part of Joyce and John’s lives.

The Joubert Syndrome Foundation
JSRDF Treasurer
1415 West Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45215

The Cooper Foundation
200 Federal Street, Suite 146
Camden, NJ 08103

The Carrier Clinic
ATTN: Development Office
PO Box 147, 252 Route 601
Belle Mead, NJ 08502