Sheila W. Sorkin, MD

Sheila W Sorkin, MD died Wednesday, January 13 in Milwaukee due to COVID-19. She was born on September 25, 1942, the daughter of Dr. Samuel and Hannah (nee Pessin) Sorkin, and grew up in Evansville, WI. She graduated from Evansville High School (Class of 1960) and went on to earn a BA from Northwestern University, a MD from Northwestern University Medical School, and later a post graduate degree in addiction medicine. After a few years practicing in Valparaiso, IN, Dr. Sorkin followed in her father’s footsteps as a family doctor in Evansville for 10 years before deciding to specialize in addiction medicine. She did this in hospitals in Sheboygan and the Milwaukee area followed by 10 years of private practice where she helped a great many people turn their lives around. She accomplished all of this in spite of decades of suffering from severe chronic pain initiated by a terrible fall in college followed by many surgeries. She never lost her sense of humor. She was a great traveler of roads both physical and literary, equally passionate about seeing all she could of both the world and the many books it is filled with. Her last years were spent at Chai Point Senior Living in Milwaukee where she was pleased to serve as a friend, cheerleader, and informal medical consultant to many of the staff who cared for her.

Sheila was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Michael and is survived by her nephew Samuel Sorkin of Evanston, IL and many friends, including members of the Baker and Cain families from Evansville.

Please help us celebrate Sheila’s life by contributing stories about her and photos to the Sheila Sorkin page at www.meredithfuneralhome.com. Her memorial service, which was delayed because of the pandemic, will take place at 2:00 on July 28 at Creekside Place, 102 Maple Street, Evansville, WI, 53536 with Rabbi Dena Feingold officiating. Those who wish to take part in the burial of her ashes are invited to meet in Evansville’s Maple Hill Cemetery at 1:00 preceding the service.

Memorials may be made to the Dr. Sheila Sorkin Endowment Fund, a fund established in her honor by friends and addiction medicine colleagues at the Milwaukee Psychiatric Hospital (now called Aurora Psychiatric Hospital). It will provide addiction treatment and recovery scholarships for people who very much need these services but cannot afford them. Aurora Health Care Foundation, Dr. Sheila Sorkin Endowment Fund, c/o Judi Strout, 1220 Dewey Avenue, Building #2, Wauwatosa, WI 53213

A quote from Sheila, “We live on in the lives we have touched.” Sheila has touched a great many of us.