Albert Sherwood

Albert Edward Sherwood died May 5, unexpectedly following a stroke. He was 86.

Sherwood was born Sept. 19, 1930, to Albert Leroy and Elsie Augusta (Kurtz) Sherwood in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from Central High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan and went on to earn a bachelor's and master's degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He served for four years in the U.S. Air Force as a B-36 gunnery engineer and taught at the University of Maryland for a year before returning to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965. He spent most of the rest of his career as a staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory working on various projects including Operation Plowshare, a program for the development of techniques to use underground nuclear explosions for peaceful non-military purposes.

Sherwood and his wife, Judy, traveled extensively throughout their 33-year marriage and enjoyed explorations as far afield as Tonga and the Great Wall of China. He was a great conversationalist, had a wonderful sense of humor and enjoyed motorcycles and sports cars. He drove his Porsche up until the day he died.

Sherwood is survived by his  wife, Judy; two step-daughters, Robin Everett of San Franciscoand Laurie Hawkins of San Jose, California; two sons from a prior marriage, Jeff and Tom Sherwood of San Francisco; a brother, Stephen (Emily) Sherwood of Portage, Michigan and their daughter, Jessica (Kinya) Sherwood Noguchi of Jackson Heights, New York.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by his nephew, Quentin Sherwood.

A private family gathering to honor his memory will be held at his home in Alamo, California. Memorial contributions can be made to the Nature Conservancy or the Michigan Humane Society.