Seth A. Chernick of Weston, MA (formerly of Providence, RI), after defying a terminal diagnosis of widely metastatic gastric cancer for over five years. He was a proud graduate of Brown University and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business and had a long career at fortune 500 companies in a remarkable variety of roles including consulting, strategy, lean six sigma, project management, and business to business sales operations – most recently at CVS Caremark. He was known for his work ethic, energy, enthusiasm, intellect, curiosity, and feisty spirit.
He leaves his wife of 33 years Randee L. Cassel (also of Weston, formerly of St. Louis), a retired attorney, and two adult children Matthew P. Chernick, a teacher, and Dr. Rebecca E. Chernick (Dr. Alexander “Ian” More), an anesthesiology resident, a brother Michael J. Chernick of Montpelier, Vermont, his Aunts Ellen (the late Harold) Moss, and Marsha (the late Dr. Warren) Chernick, his von Wettberg and Cassel sisters and brothers-in-law and their families, and many beloved cousins, colleagues, former classmates, and friends. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his in-laws the late Irving and the late Josephine (Fishkop) Cassel.
Seth was born in Providence to the late Melvin A. Chernick, a respected Providence attorney, and the late Shirley (Markowitz) Chernick, a homemaker, and raised on Doyle Avenue on the east side of Providence, a short walk to both the Brown University stadium, where he eventually performed clarinet in Brown’s notorious scatter band, and Temple Emmanuel, where the family worshipped regularly and where he became a bar mitzvah. For many years the family summered on Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA where his mother was born, and where his maternal grandparents, the late Dan and the late Esther (Soskin) Markowitz, owned and operated Dan’s Deli a popular, historical fixture on the beach.
Seth attended the Providence public schools and was proud throughout his life to have played in Rhode Island’s Junior Symphony, and to have graduated from Classical High School, Providence’s prestigious exam school, where he became passionate about, and also excelled in, Latin, science, and math - the latter so much so that during his senior year at Classical, he was accepted into a program at Brown to take freshman computer classes in the Applied Math department, a precursor to Brown’s groundbreaking undergraduate computer science degree. He would go on to graduate among Brown’s first class of Computer Science degrees in 1979.
As a native of the east side of Providence, and the son, spouse, father, and uncle of Brown graduates, he remained “ever true” to Brown, assuming a variety of alumni leadership, fundraising, reunion, donor, and volunteer roles throughout his life. He was an Eagle Scout, having followed his father, his two Chernick uncles, and his brother into the Boy Scout program, including attendance at Camp Yawgoog in Rhode Island, as both a camper and a leader, and served as Assistant Scoutmaster in Weston where his son Matthew also earned the rank of Eagle Scout as the third generation of Chernick men to do so. Seth retained a lifelong passion for technology, and an avid interest in a variety of leisure sports and recreation, Boston sports teams, food, and travel.
The family wishes to acknowledge and thank the extraordinary staff at Dana Farber for the gift of their care and for his several years of relatively good health following an unexpected and grim diagnosis, and his team at CVS Caremark for their unwavering patience and support during his illness. In lieu of flowers, Seth would have been pleased to have donations in his memory especially to the Chernick Family Fund at Brown University, c/o Gift Cashier, PO Box 1877, Providence, Rhode Island or to The Center for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer, Peter Enzinger, MD, Director, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Division of Philanthropy, 10 Brookline Place, Brookline, Ma 02445.
Graveside service will be held in Sharon Memorial Park, Sharon MA.
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