Sheryl Lozowski-Sullivan

Our mother, wife, mentor, clinician, friend, and community leader, Sheryl Lynn Lozowski was born on November 17, 1963, in Detroit. She became the only sister to two older brothers, one 5 years older and the oldest 6 years older. Her family then moved to, at that time, a rural town in the northern lower peninsula called Traverse City for an easier pace of life where they welcomed a baby brother.

Sheryl had a special bond with her father as the family’s only daughter. She reminisced as an adult about her father’s butchery/smokehouse and hinged on every detail she could glean about him. She often spoke about her life before and after his death, a pre-1972 and post, in which nothing was the same. Nonetheless, Sheryl enjoyed learning and attended Traverse City High School. She loved hip-hop and jazz dance, and her cheer team. Sheryl left impressions even in high school. She was voted “most active,” “most wanted to be stranded with,” and, “hottest temper.”

After graduating high school, Sheryl started in the Honors Program at Michigan State University’s James Madison College. In her first year, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She told a story about a friend, diagnosed at the same time as her, who chose treatment at a different hospital and died, while Sheryl chose treatment at Michigan Medicine and lived. Sheryl knew from 18 years old how the quality of a care system mattered for your odds of survival as the patient. This time of her life was scary.

Her life diverged much like before with the loss of her father, a pre-remission and post. She became the Residential Manager at the Wilmot House, a family-style home for cancer patients receiving radiation therapy. She then pursued a Master of Public Health fully funded by the Trunbull Family after graduating with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of Michigan. She participated in a study of homelessness in Detroit as an interviewer and worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield as an insurance policy analyst. She learned systems of healthcare that most of us will not.

And then, another life-changing event occurred, a pre-1993 and post. A friend asked to set her up on a blind date, and Sheryl agreed. The three took off on mountain bikes at Kensington Park, but only two continued on and on together. Sheryl always told the story of how he waited an entire week to call her. For 2 months, she and him were inseparable. On Labor Day weekend in 1993, he asked Sheryl to marry him. She responded, “how many beers have you had?” Sheryl called their wedding, “the happiest moment of her life.”

She had her first child at 29, a boy who they traditionally named after her and his father. They soon welcomed a second boy whom they named after the Irish names that they loved dearly. All the while, they had labrador retrievers and cats, they moved to the deep South and back, and they eventually crafted a home and family in Greater Kalamazoo, Michigan. For many years, Sheryl was a homemaker who could cook, clean, tackle home projects, teach two boys, and worked part-time at one time writing a childhood cancer guide for the Candlighter’s Foundation and another as a swim instructor. She made new durative friendships with others who laughed and thought so much like her. She called this time of her life, most often raising her boys, “her best job ever.”

Sheryl had accomplished one of her two goals, to start a family. She had another goal in life: to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. She started at Wayne State University, commuting across the state in a van service so she could raise her family where she wanted and get the education that she wanted. One day, while in the crosswalk, Sheryl was hit by a car. She survived, but her head had bounced and her body was stained with bruises. She eventually transferred to Western Michigan University to complete her studies. She welcomed her third child, her miracle baby, in 2003 who she promptly brought to learn or teach psychology courses.

Sheryl’s doctoral journey lasted 9 years with barrier after barrier. She was undeterred and became a practicing clinical psychologist in 2012. Again, Sheryl talked about her world before and after becoming a psychologist. When she started in private practice, she became a part of a history of small business owners just like her father. In the first years, she was adept from her experience to deliver therapy, bill, and own a business, but she spoke how clinical psychologists with her training often do not hold private practice because the administration of mental healthcare is unbelievably burdensome. She invested in the practice more hours than the typical workweek, every week, and she contracted in various ways with health systems in the Greater Kalamazoo area. She carved a niche that did not exist before in our community.

She provided behavioral therapy in all kinds of health conditions and assessed hundreds of people in Greater Kalamazoo for Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorders. She became known as “someone in the community” who was thorough. She believed a combination of assessments could give enough observations or data to tell a story about a person relative to a standard population. Sheryl felt the trust of physicians and advanced practice providers was a testament to the value she added to the care team. Her practice thrived and served the community for 12 years under her leadership. She called this time of her life, “living her dreams.”

The start of Sheryl’s heart journey began on a ski trip in Colorado when she became very ill with mountain sickness. She was told by the medic that she had a heart murmur. Later, she found that one heart valve was damaged. When she arrived at the Cleveland Clinic, she learned how her radiation therapy for cancer years before had affected many heart valves. Despite her gratitude for life-saving radiation, she paradoxically had to face its consequences. She had her first open heart surgery for heart valve replacement in 2015 and survived like a superwoman. She described the experience as if tractor tires ran over your chest for a year. She, like her family, viewed the Cleveland Clinic as miracle workers.

Sheryl was given time and seized it. She built the kitchen she always wanted. She welcomed a daughter-in-law. She traveled the world to the Galapagos Islands, South Africa, Belize, and Ireland. She snorkeled, hiked, and returned with marvelous stories of people and wildlife. She found nature exquisite and recounted each detail from the naturalists on her travels. She made her New Year’s resolutions each year again and again to drink more because she never drank much, but she wanted to enjoy life more. She re-invested in friendships, new and old. She called this time of her life, “borrowed time.”

Sheryl started to talk about her life more existentially than before, although she always had a deep sense of her mortality. When her health deteriorated again, the heart valve replaced 7 years prior was obsolete. The best surgeons in the world deliberated on which procedure was best, and still, Sheryl had a remarkable adverse event. The Cleveland Clinic saved her life again and gave Sheryl two more precious years with her loved ones.

Sheryl, sprinkled in conversation, asked her husband about hobbies he could do, worried for her boys, and wondered how life could be lived knowing the end was ominously near. She turned to the small moments: swimming or lounging in her pool, gardening her flowers and produce, listening to the Eagles or Steely Dan, and enjoying time in companionship with her family and friends. Among all of her life-changing moments, Sheryl was beyond overjoyed and unabashedly grateful to meet and hold her grandson.

In her last extraordinary act, she fought unbelievable sickness in addition to her heart valve challenges, thanking every person who helped her and bantering authentically at her pace. She endured unbelievable procedures and outbeat the odds again and again. Sheryl was known throughout her life for her tenacity, and she mustered strength unmatched. She received so deservedly the best medical care in the world to beat the odds, as she always did. She believed in evidence, and Sheryl’s life and health story are evidence that there are extraordinary cases of people.

Sheryl is remembered daily as legendary, a pillar of inspirational hope and care, a testament to healing in all forms, and a superwoman. She is remembered as the archetype of the nurturing mother; the devoted wife; the savvy businesswoman; the progressive thinker; a caring healer. There is no one like our beautiful Sheryl.