‘They were taken from us’
Mourners gather to pay tribute to billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman
The children of billionaire philanthropists Barry and Honey Sherman say coping with the speculation surrounding their parents’ deaths has compounded the pain of a crushing, surreal loss.
At a memorial service attended by thousands in Mississauga, Ont., on Thursday, Jonathon Sherman said he and his three sisters have struggled in the days since their parents were found dead in their Toronto home.
Police have said both 75-year-old Barry Sherman and 70-year-old Honey Sherman died of “ligature neck compression,” and classified the deaths of the Apotex founder and his wife as suspicious.
Jonathon Sherman said the unusual circumstances, coupled with the speculation surrounding their deaths, reinforced the fact that the family has lost the glue that held them together.
“These last few days have been really f---ed up for my family,” he said.
“As my sisters and I congregated for two days waiting to hear any facts other than through Twitter and the unreliable news media, I kept expecting my parents to walk through the front door and say ‘everything will be fine, we’ve taken control of the situation.’ These past few days have been a shocking adjustment to our reality.”
Some media reports said police were initially leaning toward a murder-suicide theory, which the Sherman family has strongly rejected.
Jonathan Sherman, surrounded by his sisters Lauren, Alexandra and Kaelen, told the crowd of assembled mourners that the family has found the deaths “incredibly painful and bizarrely surreal.”
He paid tearful tribute to his parents, praising their generosity, their competence, their support and their devotion to their Jewish heritage.
Referring to his family unit as a six-pack, he reminisced about everything from childhood family travels to massive holiday dinners to recent play times with new grandchildren. Through it all, members of the clan benefited from his parents’ boundless love and zest for life.
“Our parents never left anyone behind. They were taken from us,” he said, as two coffins were prominently displayed at the front of the hall where the service was taking place.
Sniffles could be heard from the crowd as the Shermans’ family and friends spoke. Hundreds of employees from Apotex were in the crowd, with many wearing scarves in the company’s trademark bright blue and T-shirts saying “we will continue your legacy.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory were also among those gathered.
Wynne offered a tribute to the Shermans’ wide-ranging contributions to causes at home and abroad.
“Because of their dedication to giving to those in need, there are countless students and patients, children and seniors, so many people here at home and around the world whose lives were touched by Honey and Barry who don’t know it,” she said. “And I get the sense that that’s exactly how the Shermans wanted it to be.”
Barry Sherman founded Toronto-based Apotex Inc. in 1974 with two employees and gradually turned it into the largest Canadian-owned pharmaceutical company. Along the way he amassed a vast fortune, recently estimated by Canadian Business magazine at $4.77 billion, making him the 15th richest person in the country.
Honey Sherman was a member of the board of the Baycrest Foundation and the York University Foundation. She also served on the boards of Mount Sinai’s Women’s Auxiliary, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the International American Joint Distribution Committee.
Together, the Shermans were among Canada’s most generous philanthropists and also organized funding of charitable causes through the Apotex Foundation. The couple made numerous multimillion-dollar donations to hospitals, schools and charities and had buildings named in their honour.