Richmond, Va.—Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pioneer Cecil Sherman has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

Sherman, 80, has sought treatment options at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after receiving the diagnosis late last month, according to Tim Norman, a family friend and fellow Virginia pastor.

Acute myeloid leukemia progresses rapidly and is typically fatal within weeks or months if left untreated. It is a potentially curable disease, but only a minority of patients are cured with current therapies.

Sherman’s daughter, Eugenia Brown of Madison, Wisc., accompanied him to the well-known cancer center in Houston, where he has been accepted into a clinical-trial program, according to sources close to the family. The 21-to-30-day trial, customized for older adults, requires Sherman to remain in a protected environment.

Meanwhile, Sherman’s wife, Dot, died Aug. 1 in Richmond, Va., following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 90.

“All of the CBF family grieves the passing of Dot Sherman,” said Daniel Vestal, CBF executive coordinator. “Her quiet strength was endearing to everyone who knew her.”

Because of his ongoing cancer treatments, Cecil Sherman was unable to be with his wife at the time of her death. The couple’s daughter was able to return to Richmond to be with her mother.

As of last week, plans for two memorial services were yet to be finalized. One service will be held at River Road Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., and one at First Baptist Church of Asheville, N.C.

A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Dorothy Sherman was a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. She worked as an editor at the seminary and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Sunday School Board (now known as LifeWay Christian Resources).

Cecil Sherman, one of the most prominent figures in moderate Baptist life over the last half-century, served as the first national coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, giving shape to the moderate organization, founded in 1991.

He is renowned for going toe-to-toe with fundamentalist hero Adrian Rogers during theological debates when both served on the Southern Baptist Convention Peace Committee in the mid-1980s.

Sherman currently is pastor of Westover Baptist Church in Richmond.

Compiled from reporting by Associated Baptist Press and CBF communications