Obituary of John Herbert

Funeral services for John James Herbert, 94, New London, will be 10:00 am, Monday, October 10, in the Cottle-Pearson Funeral Home chapel, Overton, with Chaplain Keith Lybrand and Pastor Melissa Beets officiating. Entombment, with military honors, will be at 2:00 pm, in the Roselawn Memorial Gardens Last Supper/Good Shepherd Mausoleum, in Mineola.   John Herbert went home to be with the Lord and his wife Thursday, October 6, 2011, at his residence. He was born November 20, 1916 in Herminie, Pennsylvania to the late John and Jean Goldie Reed Herbert. His father John Herbert came to the United States from Lithuania at the age of three and was the son of Cassimere and Margarett Playfair Urbatis. When his dad started school, his teacher could not pronounce 'Urbatis', therefore, she was the instrumental person who had the family name changed to Herbert.  His mother came with her parents from Scotland at the age of 7, wherein both parents were immigrants that came through Ellis Island into the United States.  Both families traveled to Pennsylvania for employment with the coal mining industry.   John had an older sister, Margaret Elizabeth Herbert and a younger brother, William Reed Herbert.  John was two years old and his baby brother William was two months old when his mother, Jean Goldie, died from the flu epidemic in 1918. His dad never took responsibility for his children, so the three were raised by their grandmother, Elizabeth Vansensky Urbaits (Herbert) Lynch. Cassimere Urbatis had died in a coal mining accident.  Grandma Urbatis then remarried George Lynch.  As a child, John was allowed to come and go as he pleased. He could be gone for weeks at a time and when he returned, no one bothered to even ask him where he had been unless he was needed for manual labor.  When he was 13 he ran away from home.   He and a friend decided to stowaway in a ship headed to England not knowing it would stop in New York.  In New York, the two young boys were apprehended as stowaways and arrested where they shared a jail cell with the notorious John Dillinger of the Dillinger Gang.  John became a hobo and traveled to Texas by train where he joined the United States Cavalry.     His sister Margaret married William 'Bill' Naylor and his brother William went off to war. William died in a Japanese concentration camp in the Philippines in the Bataan Death March in 1942 at the age of 18. John enlisted in the United States Cavalry at the age of 17 at Ft Clark, Bracketville, where he served in the 5th Cavalry Division. He was later transferred to Fort Bliss, having to ride approximately 300 miles on horseback. He remained in the Cavalry until 1941 when he was discharged.   He married Ramoma Lee Hickman on August 19, 1942 in Midland.  John then reenlisted in the US Army Air Core as a Private.  During his service in the Air Force he was crew chief on the B-18 Bomber which was a plane designed to watch submarines in both the Atlantic and Pacific Coast.   He also flew in the B-4 and the B-17.  He was a flight engineer on both the B-29 and the B-32.  He serviced and test flew the Enola Gay prior to the deployment to Japan to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.  While serving in the Air Force, he met General Arnold and was given the citation for Merit Service Ribbon. He also received a citation Merit Ribbon from General Curtis LaMay and the Secretary of the US Air Force. He received his honorable discharge from the Air Force as a flight officer in 1945.  Then he was employed with the USA Civil Service until his retirement, working in the J-85 engine shop as a foreman.  At this time, John designed many tools making work easier and less expensive for the US Air Force.  He received much recognition, certificates and cash awards for these inventions.  He then worked at Howard College in Big Spring until 1988.   John and Ramona lived in the Big Spring area for 35 years and then moved to Mineola in 1989.  John was a member of the American Legion Post 296 and was in the Honor Guard.  On February 17, 2003 Ramona Herbert passed away.  Soon after, John sought residence with his daughter, Phyllis, and son-in-law, Tom, until his death.   In the last few years of his life John was an avid gardener, a regular at Walmart, and a collector of DVDs.  John had his regrets and wished he could have done some things differently, but he loved his family.       John was also preceded in death by his sister, Margaret Naylor, a son-in-law, Sam Hugh Kerby, June 26, 1982 and a grandson, Thomas Joseph Starnes on November 10, 1994.    Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Jamey and Melissa Herbert, Waxahachie; four daughters and sons-in-law, Dolores and Ronnie Warren, Crane, Rita and Bob Bruce, Lamesa, Phyllis and Tom Starnes, New London, and D'Aun and Kent Sutter, California; grandchildren and spouses, Jay and Wendy Warren, Tonya and Eugene Boadle, Danny and Laura Weatherman, John and Paula Weatherman, Wesley and Leslie Bruce, Brian and Emily Bruce, Cindy and Johnny Lucio, Kyna and Loren Demers, Sammy and Robin Kerby, Andrea and Wesley Smith, Stephanie and Gary Williams, Michael Kerby, Michelle and Philip Green, Tammy Murray, and Brooklyn Herbert; great grandchildren, Ronald Jay Warren III, Matthew Warren, Jaice and Rodolofo Salcedo, Jeanie and Lance Brown, Brittany and Bo Evans, Aaron Weatherman, Machal and Mark Grappe, Anna Weatherman, Ethan Weatherman, Jake and Tiffany Weatherman, Sera Weatherman, Colton Bruce, Danielle & Austin Alvarado, Julie Cobarrubias, Brittany Bruce, Stacie and John Purcell, Cheyanna Barton, Alex Kerby, Lauren Goode, Alexis Smith, Blythe Smith, Chad Williams, Breonna Williams, Ethan Williams, Eric Miller, Aron Duncan, Sadie Wylie, Lakyn Wylie, and Josh Green; great great grandchildren, Hayden Warren, Danielle Evans, Dyllen Evans, Tanner Purcell, Kaitlyn Purcell, Avery Barton, Zaven Alvarado, Lexie Almagordo, Mark Braden Miller and Elijah Duncan.  The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm, Sunday, October 9.