Dr. Charles Sherman Gleason Jr., fondly known as Sherm or Dr. Sherm, died unexpectedly on Friday afternoon at the age of 90 at his home in Wareham.

Dr. Sherm was the only child of Dr. Charles Sherman Gleason, a general practitioner in Wareham, and his wife Eleanor Zacharias.  He lost his father at the age of 7.  After graduating from Wareham High School in 1938 he attended Harvard College, graduating with the class of 1942.  He went on to study medicine at Tufts University Medical School and graduated in 1945.  During his residency at Newton Wellesley Hospital he met his wife, Elizabeth Hooper.  The couple married at Goddard Chapel of Tufts University in 1947 and celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last year.

In 1950, Dr. Sherm and his wife “Dr. Betty” moved to Wareham, where they started their respective medical practices – Dr. Sherm in pediatrics and his wife as a general practitioner – both in the home where they lived.  Apart from his regular practice, Dr. Gleason for years conducted well-child clinics in Wareham, Sandwich, and Nantucket and was for decades the school physician for the Wareham Public Schools.  Once a week he traveled to Boston to work at the adolescent clinic at Childrens’ Hospital.  Together with his wife, he provided sex education to Wareham adolescents in his home because the schools would not.  Despite his openness, he was an old-school pediatrician in the best sense of the word.  He was known for taking his patients seriously, with absolute respect and patience.  He was available to patients and parents literally around the clock and would personally answer all calls coming to his practice after hours.  As the only pediatrician in the region, almost every long-time local resident knew him, either as patients, parents, grandparents, or all three.  Dr. Gleason practiced pediatrics until the age of 84.

Besides his busy pediatrics profession, Dr. Gleason was a very active member of the community.  For decades until his death, he was a member of the Wareham Board of Health, for a time as its Chair.  Together with his wife, he went to almost all Town Meetings.  He was a member of the Wareham Community Associates and an active member of the Wareham Land Trust.  He was very keen on environmental preservation, conservation, and protection and put much of his own land into conservation.

As an only child – a half-brother died of food poisoning before his own birth – Dr. Gleason indulged in being around his family.  His first son, Charles Sherman Gleason III, died at the age of 2 in a tragic accident.  Dr. Gleason and his wife had five more children: William Gleason, married to Helen in Nashville, TN; Dr. Pamela Swearingen, married to Dr. Charles in Belmont, MA; Susan So, married to Dr. Yuen Tat in Palo Alto, CA; Robert Gleason, married to Jane in Wareham, MA; and Dr. Amy Wiegandt, married to Manfred, also in Wareham, MA.  Dr. Sherm is also survived by nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He was a passionate sailor and loved to work in his garden.  He also loved “tinkering” at his vacation home in Southport, Maine.  For decades, he and his wife held season tickets to the Boston Symphony.  Another of his pastimes was traveling.  Together with his wife he explored many parts of the world, including far-away places such as Chile, the Near-East, and Scandinavia.  As a member of the Irish-American Pediatric Society, he regularly visited conferences in Ireland.  He was open to diverse cultures and loved to explore food from all around the world.  His and his wife’s house was always open to guests from every country and every ethnicity.

Dr. Gleason led a modest life and did not waste money on luxury items.  However, he would generously support his children and grandchildren in their educational endeavors, and he and his wife donated to all kinds of social and philanthropic causes.  They were strong supporters of Tufts University, especially the Medical School.

Dr. Gleason was always a very active and energetic person.  During the last years of his life, his energy was hampered by Parkinson’s Disease, but he still kept a considerable schedule of public engagements.  After his retirement as a physician, he invested the greater part of his energy on another cause.  Realizing that Wareham did not have much to offer children and youth in their free time, he started to explore the idea of a YMCA in Wareham.  He donated land for this purpose, and the Wareham Y, named in his honor, became a Wareham success story and will be his legacy.  In 2003, the New Bedford Standard-Times honored him for his activities with the Y as the “Wareham Man of the Year.”  At the Wareham Y, Dr. Gleason enjoyed the celebration of his 90th birthday.  He was dedicated to this cause until the end of his life and died after returning from a YMCA event.

There will be a memorial service for Dr. Sherm at the Wareham “Gleason Family Y” on Tuesday, March 8 at 10:30 AM.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Dr. Sherm to the Gleason Family YMCA, 33 Charge Pond Road, Wareham, MA 02571.

Arrangements by Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Wareham.  To leave a message of condolence, please visit: www.ccgfuneralhome.com