RICHMOND (ABP) — Virginia Baptist pastor and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pioneer Cecil Sherman has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Sherman, 80, sought treatment options at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after receiving the diagnosis July 25 and exploring possibilities in Richmond, said Tim Norman, a family friend and fellow Virginia pastor.
Acute myeloid leukemia progresses rapidly and is typically fatal within weeks or months if left untreated. It is a potentially curable disease, but only a minority of patients are cured with current therapies.
The 21-to-30-day clinical trial program at the well-known cancer center requires Sherman to remain in a protected environment. He is expected to return to Richmond in mid- to late August.
Sherman, one of the most prominent figures in moderate Baptist life over the last half-century, served as the first national coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. He currently is pastor of Westover Baptist Church in Richmond.
Meanwhile, Sherman's wife, Dorothy, died Aug. 1 in Richmond following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 90.
Two memorial services will be planned, one at River Road Church, Baptist, in Richmond, and one at First Baptist Church, Asheville, N.C. Bill Sherman, Cecil's brother, will officiate at both services.
A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Dorothy Hair Sherman earned a master's in religious education degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and worked as an editor at the Sunday School Board in Nashville as well as Southwestern. She married Sheman in 1953 and the couple has one daughter, Eugenia Sherman Brown of Madison, Wisc.