Duane Sherrod Obituary

Sherrod, Duane Eliot the son of retired long-time Chicago Sun-Times printer, Willie J. Sherrod Sr. and his wife, Augusta, transitioned on March 28, 2006. Mr. Sherrrod was 40. He grew up in Maywood, IL and attended Proviso East High School, before graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, TX. He matriculated at Stillman College where he was a physics and engineering major. Mr. Sherrod worked various jobs, including as a paralegal for a few law firms. He was an avid sports fan and family members remember him as one of their smartest. Always an intellectual superstar, about five years ago, Mr. Sherrod took a nationally standardized IQ Test, which confirmed what his family already knew. He scored in the "very superior" (top two percent) range. His sister, Dr. Rhonda Sherrod, a lawyer and clinical psychologist who is currently a clinical fellow in psychology at Harvard Medical School, called her brother, "quite simply", one of the most brilliant and entrancing beings I have ever encountered. My entire extended family is completely devastated. He was one of our most animated, charismatic and compelling figures. We all feel this loss very deeply-indeed, to the core. It is a very sad, painful and disquieting time for us". Services are as follows: The wake will be on April 4th, at Corbin Colonial Funeral Chapel, located at 5345 W. Madison St., Chicago, IL, (phone number=773-626-1092), from 3 to 7 p.m. The Funeral will be on Wednesday, April 5. There will a public viewing from 11 to 11:45 prior to the funeral which begins at 12 noon at Canaan AME Church located at 801 S. 14th Ave., Maywood, IL. Interment will follow immediately at Oak Ridge Cemetery, at 4301 Roosevelt Rd., in Hillside. Those impacted most by Duane's physical transition are: his parents, Willie J. Sherrod Sr., and Augusta G. Sherrod, his brother, Willie J. Sherrod Jr., all of Maywood, IL, and his sister, Rhonda Sherrod, J.D., Ph.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, two nieces, Cherrie Sherrod of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Taqueeta Sherrod of Bellwood, IL, four uncles, Arcurtis Sherrod, of Chicago, IL, Eddie (Martha Lynn) Sherrod Sr. of Huntsville, AL, Willie (Willa Mae) Collins of Atlanta, GA, and Robert Collins Jr. of Birmingham, AL, an aunt, Flora Sherrod Bennett of Mamaroneck, New York and a host of other aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and admirers far too numerous to name.