Barry Sheptin's Obituary
Barry Sheptin, 86 years old, of Boynton Beach, Florida passed away at home on February 16, 2023. He was surrounded by family, whom he mostly liked, and his least favorite cat. Despite these challenges, he passed with a smile on his beautiful face and his sense of humor intact.
Barry was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 16, 1936, to Max Sheptinsky and Fannie Mackwer into a household full of relatives, pets, and superlative matzah ball soup. It was here that that developed his life-long loves of fishing, nature, animals, cars, music, family, and friends. He was industrious and a bit mischievous as a child and teenager. He loved riding his Schwinn bicycle along the highway surrounding Sheepshead Bay, working as a teenager in a sewing machine shop and delivering Western Union telegrams, and working during college at Avis rent-a-car, where he took a significant risk and subjected himself to bodily harm by turning down Paul Newman for a car rental due to his unpaid bills. Also, as a teenager, he (allegedly) stole a milk-truck, but upon returning the truck with a full cargo, was (supposedly) forgiven by the milkman.
He went on to study at Brooklyn College and NYU College of Dentistry, whereupon graduation he enlisted in the United States Air Force and was a Captain stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi. He loved the camaraderie and service to his country through being in the Air Force and it was here that his love of target shooting, fishing and sportscars were further nurtured. It was also here that he met the love of his life, Sandra Dell Sugarman, to whom he was happily married for the preponderance of their 60 Valentine’s Days together.
After he and his beautiful bride returned to Brooklyn to live with his mother, for the sake of the marriage, he and Sandy moved approximately 40 miles away to Bay Shore, Long Island. In Long Island he practiced dentistry for almost forty years, and with Sandy, raised two adoring kids and several cats who loved spending time with their Daddy. He was always a devoted son, visiting his beloved mother weekly and eventually moving her out to Bay Shore to be a closer part of his family. As a Dentist, he was known for his gentle touch, kind demeanor, friendship with his patients and staff, never turning away a patient in need, and the pride he took in brightening his patients smiles and alerting them to any health issues he saw through his dental lens. As a husband and father, he was dutiful, kind, thoughtful and engaged, always putting others before himself and showing interest in people and activities important to his family.
Barry’s love of nature, water, family, and friends were a constant throughout his life, and some of his happiest times were combining these interests at the Thousand Islands in upstate New York, or Fire Island, or out on his boat on the Great South Bay. His love of animals was also always a constant. There wasn’t a dog he didn’t want to pet, a stray cat he wouldn’t rescue, a duck or squirrel he wouldn’t try to feed, or a spider he wouldn’t gingerly capture in a cup and release safely outdoors.
Barry flourished in retirement. He loved being an adoring ‘Pop-pop’ to his awesome granddaughters Lea and Macy Bartlett and a father-in-law to Greg Bartlett, within whom he has always had full trust in taking care of his little girl Melanie, his two grand-daughters and his five grand-cats. He always looked forward to time spent together with his beloved wife, kids, and grandkids playing guitar, singing, petting cats, watching Monk, going to a park, and all other family activities that allowed them to be together.
He also loved being a part of the Palm Chase Lakes community, maintaining his friendships from New York, and making new friends in South Florida. He was devoted to serving the community as an active volunteer for 12 years as a ‘Citizen Observer Patrol’ where he rose to the rank of Captain to lead Unit 58, serving the Palm Chase Lakes and Royal Lakes residential communities. He could also often be found hanging out with some of his Long Island and Florida friends going to the gun range, gun shows, playing guitar, heading out for a meal, or having a phone call to just say hi.
Barry was always concerned about the safety and well-being of others and vigilant at protecting those he loved. Signs of his love included his uncanny back-seat driving abilities to always tell you to get in the correct lane for an upcoming turn, even if you were hundreds of miles away from the next exit, or giving the middle finger to anyone who dared to cut you or him off on the road while driving. He also never angered, unless you left him with less than a half a tank of gas or didn’t change the oil in his or your car on-time.
Perhaps most notably, it was towards the end of his life where Barry really exemplified how to live. Despite the burden of Parkinson’s disease and stage four lung cancer, Barry made the best of every moment – maintaining an optimistic outlook, playing guitar, enjoying being with family and pets, and having a smile on his face his while taking his very last breath. We will miss him immeasurably and he will be in our hearts always.
He is survived by his wife, Sandra Sheptin, of Boynton Beach; his favorite child (and author of this obituary), Michael Sheptin of Palm Beach; his actual favorite child, Melanie Bartlett and her husband Greg Bartlett of Los Angeles, California; his grand-daughters Lea and Macy Bartlett and his least favorite cat, Bootsy
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