James W. Sharshan

Retired AT&T Tax Accountant

James W. Sharshan, 90, of Madison (formerly Basking Ridge) died Monday, January 6, at Chatham Hills Subacute Care Center in Chatham.

A private service will be held at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bernardsville. Internment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Basking Ridge.

Born in Campbell, Ohio, Mr. Sharshan and his family lived in Cleveland before moving to Berkeley Heights in 1968. He was a 1960 cum laude graduate of Youngstown State University with a B.S. in Accounting. He was a member of Alpha Tau Gamma, the honorary accounting fraternity.

He served with the United States Eighth Army in South Korea from 1955 to 1956.

Mr. Sharshan began his 35-year corporate career in 1960 with the Ohio Bell Telephone Company in Cleveland. In 1968 he transferred to the corporate tax division at AT&T Headquarters in New York City. Before retiring in 1994, he was District Manager, State and Local Income Taxes, at AT&T in Morristown.

He worked part-time as a Certified Public Accountant for several public accounting firms over the years. In addition, Mr. Sharshan was an Enrolled Agent licensed by the Internal Revenue Service and an income tax volunteer with AARP/VITA.

He was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Martha E. (Kidd) Sharshan, who died in 2007. Surviving him are four children, Cynthia S. Neale (John) of Madison, James B. Sharshan (Debbie) of Edison, Andrew W. Sharshan (Mary) of Boca Raton, Fla. and Amantha M. Sharshan (Rich) of Basking Ridge as well as two grandchildren, Brandon J. Neale (Bridget) of Philadelphia and Kelsey N. Burns (Nick) of Boynton Beach, Fla. and a great-granddaughter, Kassidy C. Burns of Boynton Beach.

In addition to his tax volunteer work during retirement Mr. Sharshan remained an avid fan of college football and basketball. He especially enjoyed rooting for Ohio State University and his alma mater, Youngstown State University.

Arrangements were made by the Gallaway & Crane Funeral Home in Basking Ridge.