Industry Mourns Passing of Longtime Industry Executive Bill Sheriff

by Jeff Shaw

Bill Sheriff, former CEO of Brookdale Senior Living and a longtime industry executive who was inducted into the Senior Living Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 2018, died Saturday, Aug. 27.

David Schless, president of the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA), paid tribute to Sheriff in an e-mail sent to the association’s members that same day.

“Though he was a man of few words, Bill personified leadership and service at the very highest level, mentoring a new generation of industry leaders and leaving a tremendous legacy.”

Following a successful stint building the Ryder System’s national network of truck stops, Sheriff took the reins in 1984 of American Retirement Corp. (ARC), a nascent seniors housing developer and operator based in Nashville backed by the Hospital Corporation of America, according to ASHA.

Specializing in continuing care retirement communities, ARC went public in 1997 and was acquired by Brookdale nine years later. After Sheriff was named CEO of Brookdale following the transaction, Brookdale became the nation’s largest operator of senior living communities, with 647 communities in 35 states at the time of his retirement in 2013.

As of June 1, 2022, Brookdale operated 55,581 units across 668 senior living communities nationally, making it the largest operator in the country, according to ASHA’s ranking of the top 50 owners and operators of U.S. seniors housing.

“Throughout his tenure, Bill stressed the importance of an integrated continuum of services that included skilled nursing, home healthcare, rehab therapies and hospice,” wrote Schless.

Sheriff was honored with an ASHA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Sheriff is survived by his wife Sharon and son Glen. He was preceded in death by his daughter Charlotte.

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