Robert I. Sherman (April 2, 1953 – December 9, 2016) was an American political activist,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

, and businessman. He was known for his role as an

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

candidate and for his

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

advocacy. He died in a plane crash outside

Marengo, Illinois Marengo is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry County, Illinois, United States on the Kishwaukee River. It lies approximately 60 miles west northwest of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and approximately 30 miles east of Rockford, Illinois, Ro ...

on December 9, 2016, at the age of 63.

Biography

Early life

Sherman was born and raised a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. He stated that he was an atheist since age 9, and that "it became a big deal" when he was 13. He spent his adolescence in Highland Park, and according to a candidate questionnaire, he attended

National Louis University National Louis University (NLU) is a private nonprofit university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. NLU enrolls undergraduate and graduate students in more than 60 programs across its four colleges. It has locations throughout the Chica ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, and

Harper College William Rainey Harper College is a Public college, public community college in Palatine, Illinois. It was established by referendum in 1965 and opened in September 1967. It is named for William Rainey Harper, a pioneer in the junior college m ...

. He worked as an office supply dealer.

Atheist advocacy

In 1981, Sherman listened to a radio speech by

Madalyn Murray O'Hair Madalyn Murray O'Hair ( Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995) was an American activist supporting atheism, separation of church and state, feminism, and Holocaust denial. In 1963, she founded American Atheists and served as its president ...

, an activist and founder of

American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and th ...

. The speech motivated him to join the organization, and he eventually became its Illinois director and national spokesman. He first achieved notoriety on April 1, 1986, when he sued the village of

Zion, Illinois Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,655. History The city was founded in 1900 by John Alexander Dowie, a Scots-Australian evangelical minister and faith healer who had ...

for displaying a Christian cross on a water tower, as well as other property. The case eventually went to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

in 1992, which ruled in Sherman's favor and ordered municipalities to drop the use of religious symbols. His success earned him front-page news coverage and invites to appear on national TV shows, including those of

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (December 21, 1935 – August 18, 2024) was an American media personality, writer, film producer, and the creator and host of '' The Phil Donahue Show''. The television program, later known simply as ''Donahue'', was the fir ...

and

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

. Sherman frequently received attention in the 1980s and 1990s due to his atheism activism. He filed lawsuits against numerous American municipalities, against the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

in 1997, and against Township High School District 214 in 2007 for what he considered unconstitutional endorsements of religion. He was involved in numerous other lawsuits, of which at least one other went to the Supreme Court in the late 2000s. Reporter

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

said in 1998 that "he has battled towns from South Holland to Deerfield to Zion to Palatine to Highland, Ind., and Wauwatosa, Wis., over public displays of religious symbols on water towers, on government property and on official village seals." After 10 years of membership in American Atheists, he formed his own organization, Rob Sherman Advocacy.

Political involvement

In his later years, Sherman was active in politics as a

. In 2006, he unsuccessfully ran for the 53rd district in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. In 2008, after meeting

gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney, Sherman joined the party. That same year, he ran as a Green for the same seat. He ran unsuccessfully for

Buffalo Grove Buffalo Grove is a Village (United States)#Illinois, village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake and Cook County, Illinois, Cook Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago and north of ...

Village Clerk in 2011, for Illinois's 5th congressional district in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

as a Green – receiving 4.7% of the vote – and he had announced that he would run for

Illinois's 12th congressional district The 12th congressional district of Illinois is a congressional district in the southern part of U.S. state of Illinois. It has been represented by Republican Mike Bost since 2015. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+22, it is the most Republ ...

in 2018. He served as the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Green Party chairman in 2012. Sherman's political positions included support for

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

advocacy, and he opposed

red light camera A red light camera (short for red light running camera ) is a type of traffic enforcement camera that photographs a vehicle that has entered an intersection after the traffic signal controlling the intersection has turned red. By automatically pho ...

s. He also supported secularist views, such as removing mentions of "God" from

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

and the

Pledge of Allegiance The U.S Pledge of Allegiance is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States. The first version was written in 1885 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army o ...

and removing

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

as a

federal holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

Radio and later career

Sherman hosted radio shows on AM 1530 WJJG and WSSY-AM (1330). In the summer of 2016, Sherman moved from Buffalo Grove to

Poplar Grove, Illinois Poplar Grove (founded in 1859) is a village located in Boone County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Rockford Metropolitan Statistical Area, and of the gated community Candlewick Lake. The population was 5,049 at the 2020 census. His ...

, where he started a company that built kit aircraft.

Death

On the night of December 9, 2016, Sherman died when his Zenair CH 601 Zodiac crashed outside of

. He was 63. He was flying from his home in Poplar Grove to Schaumburg Regional Airport to attend a holiday party. The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

determined that Sherman's plane lost control soon after taking off, and that it crashed around 6:19 p.m. on December 9.

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

records also showed that Sherman had a sport pilot certificate, meaning that by flying at night, he was violating the restrictions on his license.

Personal life

Sherman married his wife, Celeste, in 1978, and together they had a son and a daughter. He lived in

Buffalo Grove, Illinois Buffalo Grove is a Village (United States)#Illinois, village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake and Cook County, Illinois, Cook Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago and north of ...

for 32 years before moving to

in the summer of 2016. He was a volunteer with the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

. On June 4, 1998, Sherman was arrested and charged with domestic battery for beating his 16-year-old son with his hands and fists. Police also confiscated Sherman's rifle and semiautomatic handgun. The following month, Sherman was convicted of domestic battery in Cook County Court. The next year, he spent 120 days in jail for failing to follow orders to complete domestic violence counseling.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Robert I. 1953 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century Illinois politicians Jewish American atheism activists Businesspeople from Illinois Green Party of the United States politicians Illinois Democrats Illinois Greens National Louis University alumni Northwestern University alumni People from Boone County, Illinois People from Buffalo Grove, Illinois People from Highland Park, Illinois Radio personalities from Illinois Accidental deaths in Illinois Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Activists from Illinois Harper College alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2016