Jack Calvin Herron Sr.

Jack Calvin Herron, Sr. 83, of Norman, died Friday, May 23, 2003. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 28, 2003 at the Primrose Funeral Service Chapel with John Hargrave and Lt. Col. Joe Herron, officiating. Casket bearers will be Gene Hawk, Tom McCurdy, Phil Leonard, Terry Fischer, Rick Kersey, Jack Mattingly, Sr., Butch Roberts, Sr., Lester Berryhill, Gene Johnson, Ward Sherrill, George Kernek, Doyle Parrack, Bob Kurland, and Gary King. Services are under the direction of Primrose Funeral Service, Norman. Viewing will be Tuesday, May 27th from 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. He was born to Abner Edward Herron and Effie Gertrude Adair Herron at Mangum, Oklahoma in the Blake Community on July 5, 1919. The Herron family was Oklahoma pioneers settling in Pontotoc County near Vanoss and Ada in 1893. At the turn of the century, the family moved to Greer County. Jack attended Connors State College for two years, where he was a member of the Oklahoma Junior College Champion Basketball Team, and was named to the All Oklahoma Junior College First Team. His teammates at Connors included; Doyle Parrack, Jack Taylor, and Francis Tuttle. All went on to Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater, and played on some of Henry Iba's greatest teams. From 1940 to 1943, Herron played and started for Henry Iba, and was a member of the Missouri Valley Championship Team of Oklahoma A&M in 1941-1942. That year in the NCAA district play-offs. The Oklahoma Aggies played the University of Kansas Jay Hawks who were the Big 6 Champions. On February 27, 1943, he married Mickey Hargrave in the Alpha Gamma Roe fraternity house on Campus at Oklahoma A&M. Their marriage took place only days before the 1943 Oklahoma A&M/Oklahoma Sooner basketball game. Following his graduation in 1943, he went on active duty with the United States Marine Corps. He was always very proud that he was one of the first people in Stillwater to join the Marines following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After graduating from Marine Boot Camp at Paris Island, South Carolina and Marine Corps Officers School at Quantico, Virginia, he was sent to the South Pacific where he participated in the battles of Saipan and Tinian in the Marianna Islands. His platoon captured the airfield where the Enola Gaye would later take off to bomb Japan. Herron earned the Purple Heart medal, and other decorations for his action in the Pacific. Upon returning stateside after the war, he served as assistant County agent in Pottawatomie County, and county agent in Johnson County before returning to Oklahoma A&M as associate state 4H club director. The signs seen all across Oklahoma stating that 'County 4H Club welcomes you” were his idea and creation. In 1952, Herron traveled with his family to Jimma, Ethiopia to help establish a college as part of the Point 4 Program. From there, he was sent to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and on to Asmara Eritrea to establish an extension program. He taught farmers of Eritrea better methods to grow wheat and cotton. He organized the first agriculture field demonstration ever held in Eritrea. Herron was present when the secret U.S. Army post changed names from Radio Marina to Kagnew Station in Asmara Eritrea. Upon returning to the United States, he earned a Master's Degree from Oklahoma A&M after writing his Master's thesis on 'Insurance for Farmers”. He worked briefly in the insurance industry. After stints as a Vocational Agriculture Teacher, and Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation (A.S.C.) Manager in Logan, McCurtain, McClain, and Cleveland counties, he became assistant Basketball coach at the University of Oklahoma under Doyle Parrack. He later coached women's basketball at Moore High School and was a science teacher before joining the Oklahoma State Vocational Technical State office where he established over 100 C.V.E.T. programs in Oklahoma High Schools. Dr. Francis Tuttle appointed him as one of the original Regional Administrators for the VoTech Department of Oklahoma. He retired in 1986. In 1999 he was named to the Reed High School Hall of Fame and in 2001 the Connors State University Alumni Hall of Fame. He is survived by his sons; Dr. Jack Herron, Jr., and his wife, Susan, Norman, Lt. Col. Joe Craig Herron, and his wife, Leslie, Davis, CA, daughters; Cindy Herron Odgers, and her husband Rob, Litchfield Park, AZ, Jan Herron Moore, and her husband Ed, Edmond, grandchildren; Jack Herron III, Jacquelyn Camille Herron, Julie Herron Hall, Jane Herron Yaciuk, Craig Herron, Cody Herron, Joy Moore Beadles, Jana Moore Ellis, Jamie Moore Talley, Adam Odgers, Ryan Odgers, and Amy Odgers, great-granddaughters; Ashley McKinna Hall and Taylor Rae Talley, sister, Laverna Schultz, Fresno, CA, sister-in-law, Francis Herron, Altus, brother-inlaw, Justice Rudolph Hargrave, and wife Madeline, Wewoka, and many nieces, nephews, family and friends. He was preceded in death by his wife, parents, brothers; Roy, Floyd, Claude, J.B. and Earl Herron, sisters; Bertha Passmore and Eula Starnes. Memorial donations may be made in Jack's name to The Oklahoma Alliance for Arts Education, P.O. Box 58194, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73157.