Herbert C. Held

1924 - 2016

Herb Held passed away in Boulder, Colorado on December 9, 2016, after declining health this year. He was 92. Herb was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on October 31, 1924, and would be the eldest of three brothers. He graduated from high school in Troy, New York in 1943 and promptly enlisted in the Army. He was asked whether he had a preference for the Europe or Asia; he indicated Europe. When told that Europe was not a good place for Jewish POWs, he replied that he wanted to go there anyway, as he had "a score to settle with the Fuhrer." Herb served honorably in five campaigns in Europe: Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Central Europe and Rhineland. After VE day on May 8, 1945, he was asked to remain in Germany to assist in the Allied efforts to restore order to Germany, which he agreed to despite having enough "points" to return home. When he finally returned, the colleges were completely filled with recently returned GIs, so he began attending school at a women's college, Russell Sage, in Troy. He later attended school at Cornell University and law school at the University of Virginia. During his career, he worked for General Electric for 16 years and then became a management consultant until his retirement in the early 1990s, living in New York and Northern Virginia most of this time. Herb had many passions in life: Winston Churchill, the NY/SF Giants baseball team, Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Willie Mays, French Club, Cigars, the Rocky Mountain Churchillians, the NY Giants football team, Dogs, linguini with clams, apple pie, cherry pie, McLaughlin and Company, his friends at The Carillon at Boulder Creek, Vancouver, Cooperstown, San Francisco, Iztak Pearlman, the Marx Brothers, Don Rickles, Redskins Report with John Riggins, Benny Goodman, John Philip Sousa, Kate Smith, Glenn Miller, Gene Wilder, Sid Caesar, Opera, PBS, BBC, Newspapers, and Classical Music. He bestowed the highest praise and appreciation for U.S. Military personnel, always most grateful for the liberties afforded to residents of the United States of America because of the monumental sacrifices made by the U.S. Military. Herb loved baseball his whole life, and was a fan of the New York/San Francisco Giants. During the war, he listened to the 1944 and 1945 World Series through an intricately-established web of wires and coat hangers connected to a war-weary radio he purchased on the black market. He passed on his love of baseball to his son Gary Held, who recalls childhood evenings with his father listening to static-filled baseball radio broadcasts, and later attended many games together. Herb is one of the few people to see the last Giants game at the Polo Grounds in NYC and the last Giants game at Candlestick Park. They visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York often for the Hall-of-Fame induction ceremonies, including Willie Mays' induction in 1979, where Herb managed to negotiate their way into the VIP section. After Herb moved to Colorado in 2009, Herb and Gary continued to see games together at Coors Field whenever the Giants visited. They watched baseball together in 16 ball parks across the country. Herb and Gary traveled to the Churchill Museum and War Rooms in London when Herb was 83. As an admirer of Winston Churchill, Herb left a cigar on Churchill's headstone at St. Michael's Church in Bladon. Herb and Gary then traveled to Normandy, visiting the beaches where Herb landed three days after D-Day. A number of people approached Herb and thanked him for his service. Herb married Eleanor Gregory, who predeceased him. Herb had two sons, Michael Held, now of Marco Island, Florida, and Gary Held of Boulder, Colorado. Herb is survived by Mike and Gary (wife, Jessica Yates), as well as his brother Paul Held of Bellevue, Washington (wife, Marla), and Edith Held of Centennial, Colorado, the wife of Herb's deceased brother Arnold Held. Until recently, Herb lived at the Carillon at Boulder Creek, where he had many friends who will miss him. A memorial service will be held at the The Carillon at Boulder Creek, 2525 Taft Dr., Boulder, on Sunday, January 8 at 2:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: Wounded Warrior Project at www.woundedwarriorproject.org