Ned Allan Herr

Ned Allan Herr, my Grandpa, was born on Tuesday, October 29, 1940 to Willard and Maxine Herr in Nappanee, Indiana. He was the fifth of eleven children, and would go on to have three of his own. His children's names are: Benjamin Andon Herr born in Del Rio, Texas on November 27, 1960, Fraya Eileen Herr (now Fraya Buchanan) born in South Bend, Indiana on May 1, 1962, and Jordan Allan Herr born in San Diego, California on May 12, 1975.

I would like to start by telling you my Grandma and his love story to the best of my ability. It's something you would hear about and think of the Notebook, love at first sight. Only, in this case, the roles were reversed. In the Notebook, it was Noah who fell in love with Allie at first sight but with my grandparents it was my grandma, Kerry, who fell in love with Ned at first sight. Grandma saw Grandpa from the back across a field and went home to tell her mom that she was going to marry him. And she was right. Ned Allan Herr and Kerry Ellen Spahr were married in Hibbard, Indiana on December 19, 1959. But let's go back to their courtship. Grandpa used to walk 7 miles from his house to my Grandma's just to carry her books to school. I think that story right there sets the entire tone of their life together.

My Grandpa didn't always have a lot, but he always worked hard to provide for those he loved. He was a giver. Grandpa also worked to buy Grandma clothes for school. They loved each other so much. They were together for 60 years. It's why my Grandma dropped out of school her senior year because she couldn't think straight without him. However, she did go back to finish high school, and in a way, Grandpa made school possible for her. He typed all of her papers including her Masters' Degree project, which is a book, up until 2 months before he passed away. He always went out of his way for the people he loved. He might not have always said it, but he always tried to show it.

Grandpa was a hard worker. Not just for his family, but also for the things that were important to him. He loved baseball. Specifically, he loved the Yankees. Grandma always said that it was Grandpa's first love, and I could always count on going to their house to find him watching a game. Everyone always tells me that Grandpa was a natural born athlete. He lettered in every sport he played in high school and even worked in a bean field to earn enough money for his first baseball glove. Grandma told me he got scouted, but he had a family and being the man that he was, they came first. But his love for the game didn't end there, he also loved to coach. He coached a couple of Uncle Ben's teams, and I think he would've coached my softball teams if they would've left him. He was always getting kicked out of my sports games for being too vocal. But I always loved that about him. He was there and he cared about how I did. He set up a tee in the front yard and helped me practice my swing. He took me to the batting cages all the time. And he drove me to my volleyball and basketball practices every single day.

I think baseball was his favorite sport partly because it's America's favorite past time, and no one loved this country more than my Grandpa. He loved America so much that he joined the Air Force in 1959 and served until 1963. I think he would've stayed in the Air Force longer if he didn't love one thing more than his country-his family. After his daughter, my mom, was born, I think he knew that he would have to choose, and he chose what he held most dear. Grandpa made a lot of decisions like that-he made decisions out of love for people. But, his service didn't end there. He was in the reserves up until 1975 and worked for Naval Undersystems Center (NUC) which was under the Navy where he traveled to Guam and Hawaii. His love for his country never ended. In fact, Grandpa never went anywhere without his Air Force Veteran hat which he wore proudly every place he went.

As I've mentioned quite frequently, he loved his family more than anything and this was true up until the end. He loved his brothers and sisters deeply for all the hardships they endured together. And he loved Indiana. Indiana was his home. He tried to go to Indiana once a year and would always stay with his brother, Dick. In fact, every single trip that he took out to Indiana he would bring back a Hoosier sweatshirt for my mom and I. He always talked about taking me out to Indiana with him, so I could visit with his family. Unfortunately, I never got to make that trip because he always went in Fall because he loved the way the leaves changed, and I was always in school.

Grandpa wasn't a talker. He was even worse on the phone. In fact, Kaiser sent him to phone etiquette school. Twice. He might not have always known what to say, but he did always know what to do. He was a steady presence. Solid. To me, he was like a worry stone. He used to always give me these smooth, polished stones that you were supposed to rub with your finger. They were supposed to make you feel better because they were cool and solid against your finger. Grandpa was solid. He was big, strong hands. He was metered speech and calm instruction. That's how he lived his life and that's why so many people loved him. He rose to a leadership position at nearly every job he got despite being terrible on the phone. And he was the head usher at our church for a long time, too. Because you could always count on him to be there. He was a safe haven. He always gave everyone a soft place to land. He opened his home to my mom and my brother when they needed a place to stay, he was patient and kind with his son, Jordan, and he gave me safe harbor whenever I felt I had no place left to go.

Grandpa got diagnosed with cancer 2 and a half weeks before died. He went from stage 4 cancer to terminal in less than a week. He kept how much pain he was in to himself . He was stoic to a fault. He died the way he lived his life. Quietly, stoically, privately, and out of love for his family. He didn't want us to bear his pain so he bore it alone. He may never have been a big baseball star like he dreamed about, but he was adored beyond belief. And that's how he should be remembered, a quiet man that was bursting with love for God, country, and family.

A guardian angel dressed in blue jeans and a ball cap.