Anna Elise Sherman, 36, died unexpectedly Oct. 20 in Oakland, California. She was born in Las Vegas and raised in Como Park.
Brilliant, funny and quirky, Anna had a huge heart, even as a small child. She especially loved and was protective of her siblings. She was kind to everyone she met, including all animals. She adored her cats and volunteered at the St. Paul Animal Humane Society so she could walk and love up the dogs there.
In addition to her big heart, Anna also possessed a powerful intellect. She graduated with honors from Como Park High School, Hamline University and the University of California, Berkeley Law School.
Fueled by a lifelong love of learning, travel and the outdoors, which was instilled by family trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Anna dedicated her career to addressing the climate crisis.
After college, she worked for the State of Minnesota and CenterPoint Energy to deepen her knowledge of legislation and regulations that support clean energy. She was a self-proclaimed policy nerd and loved learning how strong policies could translate into real solutions to climate change.
Those experiences propelled her to want to have a more direct impact on the development of clean energy, so she decided to apply to law school. She achieved a perfect score on the LSAT and graduated with honors from Berkeley, then practiced at a prestigious San Francisco law firm with a focus on supporting large-scale clean energy projects.
Anna applied the same discipline to other facets of her life as well. She was an avid runner who trained and ran in marathons, including Grandma’s marathon in Duluth.
Anna is survived by mother Carla Solberg Sherman, father Paul Sherman, bonus mom Susan Stokes and siblings Nolen Sherman, Minda Elwood (Ryan), Franz Sherman, and Bella Sonnek (Simon).
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2026, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 104 Snelling Ave. in St Paul.
A go fund me page has been set up to help her family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/for-anna-with-love
The family suggests memorials in Anna’s name to: Friends of Oakland Animal Services (friendsofoas.org/), who lovingly cared for her cats at her passing and helped get them back to Minnesota to live with family here (oaklandanimalservices.org/); Girls on the Run Minnesota (gotrmn.org/); Berkeley Law Opportunity Scholarship Program Fund: (give.berkeley.edu/funddrive/84?ac=130053); or a mental health organization of your choice.