Memorial service set for Sheridans

A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday for Cooper University Health System CEO John P. Sheridan Jr. and his wife, Joyce.

The two were found dead early Sunday in their Montgomery Township, Somerset County, home, where a fire was intentionally set, authorities have said.

The family will receive guests at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton from 9:30 a.m. until 11 a.m., when the service will begin.

A private funeral is planned.

Officials have not released information on the manner of the Sheridans' deaths or who might have set the fire, but said Wednesday that the blaze in the second-floor master bedroom of their Skillman home was not accidental.

The prosecutor's office said in an e-mail Thursday that the public was not in danger.

"At this point, based upon facts and circumstances learned through this investigation, we are quite confident that there exists no threat to either the immediate neighborhood or to the local community," the office said in a statement released by the communications director, Capt. Jack Bennett.

About 6:15 on Sunday morning, authorities responded to reports that smoke was coming from the home on Meadow Run Drive and found the couple unresponsive in the master bedroom. John Sheridan was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife was taken to Princeton Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

John Sheridan, 72, a political insider, served at various times as state transportation commissioner, general counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and chairman of the board of the NJ Transit Corp. He also served on the board of trustees of Carrier, a not-for-profit psychiatric hospital in Belle Mead, for 25 years.

Before joining Cooper in 2005, he was a senior partner and cochairman of the Morristown law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti L.L.P., which he joined in May 1985.

Joyce Sheridan, 69, was a retired teacher in the South Brunswick school system. They are survived by four adult sons and three grandchildren.

In a statement sent out by family friend Tom Wilson, a lobbyist and former state GOP committee chairman, the family asked that instead of sending flowers, well-wishers make donations to three organizations "that were an important part of Joyce and John's life and that embody their lifelong commitment to helping others in need."

They are the Joubert Syndrome Foundation, the Cooper Foundation, and the Carrier Clinic.