John Howard Herrlinger

John Howard Herrlinger died of acute respiratory failure at age 91 in Vacaville, CA on August 31, 2021. He had been living in a memory care facility where he came down with pneumonia after contracting COVID-19, despite being vaccinated.

John was born on July 4, 1930 in Akron, Ohio to parents Howard John George Herrlinger and Katharine Sophia (Spielman) Herrlinger. Howard died when John was two years old and his mother had a large role in his life. When John was six years old, they moved to Marietta, OH. When his mother married James J. Enright, the family moved to Brazil for three years from 1941-44. They returned to the U.S. and a year later, John was sent to Staunton Military Academy boarding school in Virginia for 9 months. He returned to Marietta in 1946 and graduated from Marietta High School in 1948. At age 18, John enlisted in the Army National Guard, starting his military service as a private in the Infantry, and later the Artillery Corps. He received an A.B. in History from Marietta College (1951) and a J.D. from Western Reserve University School of Law (1954), with admittance to the Ohio Bar. During his secondary education, John made his way up the military ranks with weekend duty, until he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Reserve in 1956. John was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1957 and completed seminary with a Bachelor of Divinity from Wittenberg College in the same year. John followed his ancestors and was a sixth-generation minister. He also earned an M.S. in Guidance and Counseling from Long Island University (1972).

While attending Western Reserve Law School, John met his future wife Doris, who was a switchboard operator during college. John married Josephine Doris Martin in 1955 during his time in the seminary at Springfield, OH. Son Timothy was born in 1956. Following his ordination, John's first pastoral assignment was for St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Shively, KY in 1957. The young couple had two additional children and welcomed Rebecca (1958) and Stephen (1959) to their family. In 1961, John was a Lutheran Church Mission Developer and he successfully developed the congregation of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Memphis, TN. John entered active duty in the U.S. Army as a Chaplain in 1964, with a commissioned rank of Captain and a one-year assignment at Ft. Riley, KS. He served American troops on the front lines in Vietnam for a year as a Battalion Chaplain from 1965-1966. After his Vietnam War service, Chaplain Herrlinger was stationed in Germany for three years in Erlangen and Schwabisch Gmund. He returned stateside in 1969 with a three-year tour at Ft. Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY. In 1972, John was deployed to Okinawa, Japan with his family for two years. Following a reduction in forces, John left active duty and returned to Akron, OH where he served as Pastor for a large congregation at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Cuyahoga Falls, OH (1975-1998). John lost his beloved wife Doris to breast cancer in 1993. He met his second wife, Virginia Lee Ringbom, on a cruise and married her in 1995. John was an Interim Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Niles, OH in 1998. He moved to California around 1999 and served as an Interim Pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in San Jose, CA from 2000-2001. John continued to live near Travis Air Force Base, CA after Lee died in 2011. In 2013, he moved to Pacific Grove, CA on the Monterey peninsula near the venerated Lone Cypress Tree at Pebble Beach which he loved visiting. At age 87, John was diagnosed with vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease and transferred to senior living in Vacaville, CA.

John was outgoing, conservative, meticulous, and loquacious. He enjoyed reading the dictionary and frequently brandished his extensive and impressive vocabulary in his speech and writings. His family was inviolate and had his unconditional support.

John leaves behind 3 children (Tim Herrlinger, Becky Weiland, Stephen Herrlinger), 9 grandchildren (Kristy (Herrlinger) Bodle; Lane Herrlinger; Jack Herrlinger; Jennifer (Weiland) Hampton; Julie (Weiland) Brooks; Melissa (Weiland) Baccaire; Mark Weiland; Kyle Herrlinger; Katrina Herrlinger), and one great-grandson (Owen Bodle).

John was particularly proud of his 42 years of military service in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve. He was awarded many medals, culminating with a Legion of Merit. He retired as a Chaplain with a rank of Colonel, and will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery in late 2022 or early 2023.

The family suggests that expressions of sympathy or remembrances be made through a donation to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund (https://curealz.org/