Family, politicians pay tribute to John and Joyce Sheridan

TRENTON - Hundreds of people from across New Jersey, including Gov. Christie and several of his predecessors, came Tuesday to a memorial service honoring the lives of Cooper University Health System chief executive John P. Sheridan and his wife, Joyce, even as authorities continued to investigate their mysterious deaths.

"I can't imagine the pain and the loss the Sheridans feel right now," Christie said. To the Sheridan children, he said: "We're here for you."

John Sheridan, 72, and Joyce Sheridan, 69, a retired history teacher, had four sons and three grandchildren.

Gathering at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, blocks from the Statehouse, politicians, lawyers, health-care executives, friends, and family remembered the Sheridans.

Their son Mark, his voice cracking at times, described his father as a man who would forever remain a hero to him, and his parents as best friends "who did everything together."

The service, peppered with humorous stories, offered a brief respite from speculation about what led to their deaths. The couple were found unresponsive Sept. 28 in their Somerset County home, amid a fire authorities say was set in their room. Authorities haven't disclosed who they believe set the fire or why.

John Sheridan, who served for many years in New Jersey government before heading Cooper, was described as a trustworthy counselor to governors, a leader devoted to rebuilding Camden, and a giving father and husband, who, one of his sons joked, would have hated the praise that has been heaped on him in recent days.

Sheridan was "a bulldog in sheep's clothing," said William A. Schwartz Jr., president and CEO of US Vision, and a trustee at Cooper. Sheridan "got that bone in his mouth and never, ever let it go" until he accomplished his goal.

Sheridan, a Republican, served as state transportation commissioner under Gov. Thomas H. Kean Sr., worked on transition teams for Christie and Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, and was at one point counsel to the New Jersey Senate Minority Office.

He joined Cooper as a senior vice president in 2005 and became CEO and president in 2008.

"As a governor, I know how important it is to have smart, strong, competent people help you do this job," Christie said. "I relied upon John's advice and counsel - not only politically, but on substantive issues" in which Sheridan developed an expertise, such as health care.

Kean praised Sheridan's "creativity" in winning the support of Democrats to secure funding for transportation projects. Sheridan "looked beyond what he was doing and saw a larger vision," Kean said.

Whitman said Sheridan was an "indispensable adviser to me from day one."

Whitman recalled that Joyce Sheridan saw politicians differently. "She had a very wry sense of humor about politicians and never took officeholders quite as seriously as we took ourselves."

Among those attending the service were Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd, former Gov. Jim Florio, other legislators, and lobbyists.

Despite his long dedication to the Republican Party, Sheridan was no rigid partisan, friends and colleagues said.

For example, his younger brother Peter recalled, when Sheridan was 10 years old, he and his father campaigned door-to-door in Cambridge, Mass., for Democrat Tip O'Neill's first congressional campaign in 1952. (O'Neill won and later became House speaker.)

As an adult, Sheridan worked with Democratic leaders such as George E. Norcross III, chair of Cooper's board of trustees, to build the hospital and invest in Camden.

Sheridan and Norcross were seen as a "very odd couple to many people," Norcross said with a grin. Explaining that there were few times when Sheridan "was not anxious to spend" on Cooper and Camden, Norcross said, "as it turned out, I was the Republican, and he was the Democrat."

As Cooper contemplated building a new cancer center, possibly in the suburbs, Sheridan spoke passionately to the board about keeping it in Camden, Norcross said.

The board, of course, obliged. The center opened last year.

"Camden is a different place today because of his vision," Norcross said, adding that he was speaking on behalf of 6,000 people affiliated with Cooper and "80,000 people who live in the city of Camden."

Relatives repeatedly described the close bond between the Sheridans and their four sons, and their love for their grandchildren. Family members shared memories that brought more laughter than tears.

"Sarcasm and humor had been elevated to an Olympic sport in our family," Matt Sheridan recalled.

Many poked fun at Joyce Sheridan's driving: the time she crashed into a neighbor's mailbox and wrecked her son's Jeep, or drove into curbside garbage cans, or one day, in a rush to get to work, spun her wheels through snow and mud through her neighbor's lawn.

Matt Sheridan described his mother as "the glue that held the family together."

A private funeral is planned for the family, according to a family friend. Before ending Wednesday's service, Peter Sheridan asked the audience to participate in one final gesture: a standing ovation.