Alabama and this family lost a good man last week. Elliott Clayton (E.C.) Herrin, Jr. (1930-2015) who married my first cousin, Mary Daly in 1951, served his community, church and family as would become a Southern gentlemen. He died of complications of heart disease and aging.
In 2010, with my retirement, I
was able to sit down with Mary and E.C. in their home, and discuss family history,
picking their memories of their growing up in a different Alabama, and
learning more about Irondale, my aunts and uncles and their own
stories. Later I posted an article on E.C. at http://hollimanfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/, a May 16, 2011 article.
Below, the 1951 wedding of Mary Daly and E.C.Herrin
E.C. was always kind and patient with me, perhaps because we could talk politics, books and history. E.C. and my Father, Bishop Holliman, had a teasing relationship, kidding about this or that and bringing forth the humorous, dry humor both had in abundance.
E.C. was always kind and patient with me, perhaps because we could talk politics, books and history. E.C. and my Father, Bishop Holliman, had a teasing relationship, kidding about this or that and bringing forth the humorous, dry humor both had in abundance.
Left, E.C. and Bishop Holliman share a beverage and jests in 1989 while on a trip to Ireland with Mary and Virginia Cornelius.
Right, E.C. in 1972 at one of many wedding receptions.
Right, E.C. in 1972 at one of many wedding receptions.
The picture below I took in 1970 at a family reunion at Mary and E.C.'s home, a home they opened countless times to Dalys, Herrins, Hollimans, Ferrells, Cornelius and other associated families. This is one of my favorite photos of E.C., catching a bit of bemusement and wisdom in his expression.
At his funeral on April 14, 2015, his four children spoke, all eloquently - Clayton, Linda, Suzanne and David. I will let Linda Herrin Bradley's loving biography of her Father speak for all of them.
"Daddy was an amazing man. His
parents were hard workers in the 1930’s and he learned well from them. When he
was 12 years old, his Mother died from breast cancer. Since Daddy had no
brothers or sisters, his Father took him to live temporarily with his Mother’s
sister and their 5 children, but 3 months later his Father was killed in a car
accident.
After that Daddy always worked to support himself – starting with a
paper route on his bicycle, and later at Sears Roebuck as he put himself
through college. He was working for TCI when they told he would be transferred
to Pittsburgh, and he needed to take metallurgy classes. Daddy said if he was
going back to school it would be law school, so he did. His cousin, our Aunt
Lola, gave him $100 to start his tuition, because his Mother had given her $100
years before so she could go to business school. So for 5 years Daddy worked
all day, then went to law school at night, with 3 children and 1 on the way. But
he never complained and he loved every minute of his work, for 50 years, as a lawyer and a municipal judge.
Then in 1989, Daddy started
losing his eyesight to macular degeneration. Gone were the books he so loved to
read, but thankfully he had books on tape to help. Mother became his eyes –
driving, reading, writing, and sitting by him as a judge – so justice truly was
blind. Most people didn’t know he couldn’t see, because he managed and again,
never complained.
Mother and Daddy married 64 years
ago this June, and Daddy would always say they were still trying to work it out.
When Mother went to work for him in 1972, we thought divorce was eminent! But
Daddy said they couldn’t divorce because they couldn’t agree on who had take
the kids. Daddy would grin and say his list started with his books, hunting
rifles, the dog, the car – he laughed and said we were way down on his list!
In the past few years, Daddy’s
health really started to decline. But still, even to the end, he managed and he
never complained.
I used to get upset when I was
growing up about whatever little stuff was happening to me, and I would tell
Daddy “it’s not fair.” Daddy would always say, “I can promise you a lot of
things, but I never promised you fair.” Certainly a lot of things in his life
weren’t fair, but he never complained and you would never know about it.
Daddy has always been there, to
encourage us, to help us learn from our mistakes, to wipe away our tears, to
tell us to be careful when we would leave, and to tell us he loved us and how
proud he was of us. His only regret was that his parents were not able to know
us. He slept well every night – because he said he had a 'clear conscience'.
And he did." - Linda Herrin Bradley
May Mary, their children and grandchildren be comforted by the example E.C. Herrin's life has set for us all. - GNH
