Rich Sherman, former coach at several Shore Conference schools, dies at 74

John Richard Sherman, a former teacher, athletic director, and principal in the Shore Conference passed away suddenly on Thursday, March 17 with his wife and children by his side, according to his obituary.

Sherman was 74 years old.

Sherman was born on May 9, 1947 and was a Little Silver resident for 66 years. He was a 1965 graduate of Red Bank Regional High School and Trenton State College in 1969, according to his obituary.

In the Shore Conference, he was a teacher and an athletic director at Raritan and he was also a principal of the Hazlet Middle School on Union Avenue. He retired in 2003, according to obituary.

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He was a coach for boys and girls gymnastics at Raritan. He also coached basketball at Raritan High School, Middletown North and Shore Regional and was an assistant coach at the Ranney School until his passing.

"Our Ranney community is devastated at the passing of Rich Sherman. Rich was an incredible friend and colleague and wonderful coach to our student-athletes over the last eight years at Ranney," The Ranney School Athletics Twitter account said. "We will miss his passion and love for his Panther Family."

Rich was pre-deceased by his parents, John and Helen Sherman and survived by his beloved wife of 50 years, Iris (Toccaceli) Sherman; his sister Lois Sherman; his daughter Christine, and son-in-law, Bill Nagy; his daughter Pamela, and son-in-law, Gavin Walters; and adored grandchildren Billy and Kyle Nagy and Olivia and Jack Walters, according to his obituary.

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"Our Ranney family is devastated by the sudden passing of Rich Sherman. Coach Sherman was a member of our Varsity Boys Basketball staff for eight years. In his time at Ranney he helped lead our team to unprecedented success on the court. He was a wonderful member of our coaching family and I witnessed the incredible impact he had on our students off the court as well," said Natalie Gorman, Ranney School Athletic Director. "He was the type of coach who showed up for senior day of different sports at Ranney just to support the team managers. He came to every graduation and was a wonderful mentor for our basketball players long after their playing days were over. His wife Iris and their grandchildren were at all of our home games cheering from the bleachers. Our Ranney family will be forever impacted by a wonderful colleague, coach, and friend in Rich Sherman."

The Viewing is planned for Sunday, March 20, from 2:00 - 6:00pm at John E. Day Funeral Home at 85 Riverside Avenue Red Bank, NJ 07701.

The Funeral ceremony will be Monday, March 21 at John E. Day Funeral Home at 10:00am with entombment to follow at The Woodbine Mausoleum 14 Maple Ave. Oceanport, NJ 07757.

Sherlon Christie is a sports reporter at the Asbury Park Press and has covered sports at the Jersey Shore since 2004. Don't miss any of his coverage by subscribing at https://subscribe.app.com. You can contact him via e-mail at schristie@gannettnj.com, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sherlonapp, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sherlonapp and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sherlon_christie

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rich Sherman, former coach at several Shore Conference schools, dies