Bradley Elwin Sherman, 68

BETHLEHEM — Bradley Elwin Sherman, of Bethlehem, New Hampshire, and Fairlee, Vermont, died on Nov. 11, 2019, at age 68, with family at his side and other family members and friends present in spirit.

He was known as “Brad” or “El” depending on when he came into your life. Brad was born and raised in Laconia. He inherited his musical gifts from his father; like his bandleader dad, he was a talented pianist, and as a teen would often play percussion in his father’s jazz band. Brad was accepted at Berklee School of Music but did not attend, instead taking on his father’s piano tuning business upon his dad’s death.

Brad enlisted in the Marines after a buddy was killed in the Vietnam War. He was not deployed overseas due to a training accident, so served stateside in the Carolinas. Brad graduated from Franconia College with a bachelor of arts degree from the Department of Performing Arts. He was most proud of the play about the Vietnam War that he wrote and directed. It was performed at Franconia’s Dow Academy to a full house and rave reviews.

Following in the footsteps of his mother and sister, both professional caregivers, Brad received his nursing degree from Essex Agricultural & Technical Institute. He liked to say that his nursing career “covered the waterfront,” from jails to nursing homes, from a convent in the White Mountains to hospice care in Tucson, Arizona. Most recently, he focused on private-duty nursing, delighting in providing one-on-one care to seniors and their families. We cherish his colorful stories about his nursing career. From caring for nuns when they routinely wore habits (“If you can put a nun together in the morning, you can assemble just about anything!”), to traversing rough neighborhoods in Tucson (“Nursing with a Smith & Wesson on your hip and stethoscope around your neck”), to his recent travels with “Ruby” through the hallucinations and delusions that sometimes accompany Parkinson’s disease, he shared and documented all.

Brad was also an enthusiastic skydiver who made over 300 solo and formation jumps. Brad published numerous books and articles as B. Elwin Sherman. El was a humorist, political satirist, and seriocomic essayist whose works were published in New Hampshire Magazine, Yankee Magazine and elsewhere, and appeared worldwide through a senior news syndicate. He also shared his observations with humor, wit and acuity in his blog, witbones.blogspot.com. He chronicled his journey with cancer in another blog, mycancerdomain.com, both humorous and raw at the same time. He was very vocal on Facebook and was well supported by his friends, who dished out support as he went through difficult cancer treatments. He would now ask them to cheer him on with one more “Attaboy!” as he embarks on this next journey.

El was never happier than when riding his Harley, kayaking in local waters, playing from the American Songbook and improvising on keyboard, or crafting his latest written piece. He especially cherished watching his daughter perform or teach aerial dance and circus arts, and hearing his grandson Myles’ bluesy jazz improv on the keyboard. We will miss El’s intelligence, musicianship, creativity, wit, and wonderful nursing and caregiving skills, and are glad for the legacy he left for us.

Brad/El was predeceased by his beloved father, Alger Sherman; brother Gary; and spouses Christine Sherman and Judith Wallace. He leaves his wife and partner of five years, Diane Church Sherman, and her son, Gabriel Lambie; daughter Erin Lovett-Sherman and her husband, Michael; son Rory Lovett and his wife, Rachael, and their mother, Celeste Lovett; grandchildren Myles, Bodhi, Norah, Brady, and Alice; his mother, Pauline Twombly Sherman; sister Susan Carey; brothers David and Andrew and their families; and special friend Joe Guertin.

We thank the wonderful care teams at the VA Medical Center, DHMC, Bayada Hospice, Jack Byrne Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and the Fairlee FAST Squad/Upper Valley Ambulance.

There will be a celebration of life in Laconia at a future date.

If you wish to make a donation in Brad/El’s memory, please consider contributing to a scholarship fund in his name at ARTSFEST, his daughter’s aerial dance, circus, and performing arts company and education center: ARTSFEST, 44 Dartmouth St., Laconia, NH 03246.