The Passing of Clayton Herrin, 1953-2021

 by Glenn N. Holliman

He was born Elliott Clayton Herrin III, the eldest child of E.C. and Mary Daly Herrin of Irondale, Alabama, February 1953.  After several years of declining health, Clayton passed away the morning of August 27, 2021, age 68.  These are a few pictures in my family album of Clayton and others through the years.

Five Generations in 1953

When he was three months old, he had his picture taken at his great grandmother's home in Irondale.  Pearl Caine Holliman, 1887-1955, is on the far left.  In the dark dress is Clayton's grandmother, Vena Holliman Daly, 1909-1990, standing next to her daughter, Mary Daly Herrin, b. 1931.  Holding the new generation is the great, great grandmother, Lula Hocutt Caine, 1861-1957.

Later that year the Herrin/Daly family came to visit our family in Johnson City, Tennessee.  I was 7 years old and remember Clayton as a baby, nestled by Mary.  Unfortunately no  photographs were taken.

A baby sister, Linda, came along in 1956.  This Christmas picture is probably from 1962,

Clayton graduated from Shades Valley High School in 1971.  Below reflecting the hair styles of the era, he sits with his mother, Mary, at Becky Holliman's wedding December 31, 1971.  Becky is the daughter of Bishop Holliman, Mary's uncle.

Also attending that party a half century ago were siblings, Suzanne

 and David Herrin. 

And then there was Clayton's 21st birthday in 1974,

 wearing a snazzy bow tie!

In 1989 another birthday party for his Grandmother Vena surrounded by Daly cousins and his siblings.

Though the decades Clayton matriculated at Montevalo and Samford Universities and was a banker before health issues slowed him up.  He married Phylis Thoni of Birmingham in 1975.  Tragically, they lost an infant child.  Elliott Clayton Herrin IV survives, an expert in the mechanics of the entertainment industry. 

Clayton was affable, kind, interested in trains and family history and a great help to his parents as they aged.  After my retirement, I was able to get back to Birmingham more often to enjoy visits with all my cousins.  Clayton once showed my father, Bishop, and me around Irondale to see how it had changed or in some cases had not changed.  

  

With his mother, Mary, Clayton waves goodbye after a visit of my father and me.

I shall miss Clayton, and I am sure I am not the only one to feel that way.

E.C. Herrin, Jr., a Celebration in Words

by Glenn N. Holliman

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.

 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.

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