Sheila Cockrel

Sheila M. Cockrel née Sheila Murphy(born November 3, 1947) is a former member of the Detroit City Council.She was a member of the Council from 1994 to 2009. The widow of Kenneth Cockrel, Sr., she's the stepmother of Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.Sheila Cockrel "had [a] fractious relationship with" Monica Conyers, so when the latter resigned, the former called the action "an appropriate decision".When Dave Bing proposed a water rate hike, Sheila Cockrel was among those who voted in favor.

In 2009, Ms. Cockrel joined the adjunct faculty of Wayne State University's Irvin D. Reid Honors College. She teaches two seminars and is on the Board of Visitors. She is the founder, CEO and president of Crossroads Consulting Group, a firm that provides assistance to companies that want to bring strategic business solutions to local governments. She established Crossroads in 2009.

In 2008, Cockrel testified in an alleged scandal involving John Clark, former chief-of-staff to Kenneth Cockrel, Jr., taking bribes from Synagro Technologies which won a $47-million sludge disposal contract with the city. Cockrel was one of five members of the council who voted in favor of this deal despite protests from residents.

Cockrel has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a Master of Arts in urban planning from Wayne State University.

Cockrel is a Detroit native whose parents, Louis and Justine Murphy, founded the Catholic Worker Movement in Detroit. The family oversaw the operations of the St. Martha House of Hospitality, a home for men and a soup-kitchen for the needy. She married Ken, Sr. in 1978 and they had a daughter, Katherine, in 1985. In 1988 Ken died.

Evidence of Cockrel's life and work are open for public research in the Ken and Sheila Cockrel Papers at the Walter P. Reuther Library in Detroit.