Chris Sherman, 52, passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 11, after a stroke.
“Sherm”, “Dude,” or, as his grandmother Joyce Gaydosik called him, “My Christopher,” never did anything small, his family wrote in his obituary. He was “all in” on his many life adventures including sports, travel, love and parenting.
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sherman lived in Albany, New York, in his early years and went to Albany Academy before his family moved to Illinois, where he graduated from Barrington High School in 1989.
In 1993, he graduated from Babson College and began work in the mattress business. While living in Denver, Colorado, he met and married his wife, Kerry Geen, on Aug. 31, 2002, and they raised three sons: Forrist, Charles and Henry.
Sherman led a successful, 28-year career in the bedding industry. He joined Serta Simmons Bedding in 1995 and became the senior vice president of business development at Restonic Mattress Corp. in 2017.
He took great pride in his family and their life on Honeoye Lake, according to the family obituary. Sherman coached his sons playing hockey from age 3. He enjoyed boating, fishing, golfing and hockey, but most of all he loved watching his boys excel at school, sports, music and life. He also enjoyed grooving at bluegrass festivals and planned to experience this with his family this summer in Colorado.
Sherman battled significant illness during the past 10 years and demonstrated his love for his family by fighting to regain his health. He was 10 years in remission from leukemia this year, with excellent care from Wilmot Cancer Center and a stem cell donation from Andrew Connor from Germany. Connor later became a family friend.
Sherman is survived by his wife, Kerry Geen Sherman, his children: Forristal Lee, Charles Robert and Henry Christopher. He is also survived by his parents, Christine Sherman and Doug
Knop of Algonquin, Illinois; Robert Sherman and Barbara Bradford of North Barrington, Illinois; and grandmother Joyce Gaydosik of Centuria, Wisconsin.
Sherman is also survived by his brother, Brent Sherman; sister and brother-in-law, Bobbie (Andrew) Murphy of Wauconda, Illinois; mother and father-in-law, Rosemary and Thomas Geen of Rochester, New York; brothers and sisters-in-law: Thomas Jr. (Renee) Geen, Sheila Geen (John) Hohman and Sara Geen (Luke) Banach, as well as many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Sherman was predeceased by his grandfather Richard Gaydosik and grandmother Doris Matilda Sherman.
A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, June 3 from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. at Wren’s Roost, 6995 Longsdorf Road, Naples, New York 14512. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Wilmot Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 287996, Rochester, New York 14627.
