Jeff Sherman, a member of Three Holy Women, Milwaukee, enjoys family time with his wife, Stephanie, son, Jake, and daughter, Pierce. (Photo by Gloss Photography Studios)
Jeff Sherman has a busy schedule. He hosts 620WTMJ’s “The Upswing” and wears hats as a board chair of the Westown Association, chief marketing officer of Okanjo and CEO of Sherman Inc. He considers himself an “evangelist for Milwaukee.”
But if you peer inside of the Shorewood resident, husband and father of two, you see that such civic evangelism subtly but genuinely stems from his desire to build God’s kingdom through what he enthusiastically does best — connect people and advocate for community.
“I had a boss that always, every morning, would come in and give me his definition of enthusiasm,” said Sherman, the co-founder of OnMilwaukee.com and member of Three Holy Women, Milwaukee.
“It is in ‘Theos.’ It is God within. We all have God within us telling us what to do, how to connect, how to be a better person. Ultimately, you’ve got to have faith and hope that life’s gonna work itself out. But you’ve got to use that in the way that you’re called to use it. If you don’t, you’re not harming yourself, you’re harming others.”
For Sherman, that quest to animate “Theos” on a daily basis happens most personally inside his home, where he shares his life with wife, Stephanie, their high-school-age son and middle-school-age daughter.
“I don’t say I’m a perfect dad or I’m doing things the right way, but I always kind of come back to enthusiasm, knowing that we have God within us. There’s no perfect in this world, but there’s a perfect God that we serve.”
“We hope that we just have enough of an effect as parents to make sure that they’re good leaders and thoughtful people moving forward.”
As many dads rightfully do, Sherman credits Stephanie — a fellow civic evangelist, helping lead the Milwaukee nonprofit Near West Side Partners — with being a stabilizing force and carrying God’s compassion for their kids during an often-challenging age.
“My wife does an amazing job centering us and kind of bringing us in for family hugs when things get hard, right? Cause they’re going to,” he says.
“It helps us bring us back to when things get challenging, whether it’s friend drama, sports drama or a test that went wrong, what always happens in family life.”
When it comes to teaching the deepening of the faith, the Shermans teach by example.
“I’m hoping maybe they learn from our routines. I have a regular routine in the morning of just reading verses, reading from different books to kind of put the Good News into my mind before I go off. I’m hoping that (our kids have) taken that, and they both really have,” said Sherman.
“Especially our son. He reads his Bible. He’s far beyond where I ever was, and he’s taken it upon himself because he’s an athlete; he’s growing and learning and really becoming an amazing teammate and young man.”
Parents don’t raise kids in vacuums. The Shermans recognize the axiom of needing a village to help raise a child, and their village finds plenty of foundation within the faith, including his aunt — a basketball-loving religious sister.
“My godmother, Sr. Mary Acerbi of the School Sisters of St. Francis, means the world to me and has really kind of helped shape my faith journey. It’s great to have her guidance, her inspiration and her almost daily text messages to me, in the way that only nuns can do,” he said.
“After every Marquette game, after every Bucks game, we get an analysis text message from Sr. Mary, full of emojis, full of her insights, and then full of inspiration for Team Sherman. She’s really created that sense of purpose and presence in her life. I think it’s instilled upon us — my wife, Stephanie, and I — and then our kids, just kind of having somebody like Sr. Mary in our lives.”
Sherman also credits a certain well-known priest who ministers powerfully by word and by community-centered example: Fr. Tim Kitzke.
“I’ve learned a lot from him in so many ways. He is a CEO, he’s a chief marketing officer, he’s a chief fundraiser. He is running and building community each and every day and does it in such a unique manner. He married us. He baptized both of our children,” Sherman says.
“Even in his homilies, he always has three points in his homilies. He does it with humor, he does it with insight, but he’s also saying, ‘These are the rules of the road.’”
Those rules guide how he gently leads Team Sherman with every example and word, of subtly being community builders for a purpose of God’s love.
“Nobody does it perfectly every hour of the day,” he says. “But I think when you really center yourself around a bigger calling, that we’re all here for others, it helps everything else fall into place.”
