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walk humbly with your God

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 6 months ago

 

 

 

Herschel Conner, 61, of St. Petersburg, a loving and devoted husband and father, died peacefully at home on Friday, May 23, 2008, with his wife of 38 years, Joan Conner, by his side, after a courageous 3 and ½ year journey with cancer.

 

Herschel was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL. He later earned an M.A. in Philosophy from Xavier University, Ohio, and an M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University where he was an EPA Fellow. Herschel joined the engineering and planning consultants H.W. Lochner in 1976 and became one of Lochner’s Senior Vice Presidents and Principals-In Charge. Herschel served as Lochner’s Technical Director for Environmental Studies, served as Chairman of the City’s Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Commission, and was a key member of the Pinellas Environmental Assessment Task Force. Herschel won numerous awards for a variety of transportation planning studies, ranging from facility impact analyses and hurricane evacuation plans to urban area transportation plans, including a national award for the Paris Pike project connecting Paris and Lexington, KY.

 

As a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Herschel taught confirmation classes, served on parish counsel, and was a member of Just Faith, a group dedicated to peace, social justice, and solidarity with the poor.

 

Herschel is survived by his devoted and loving family: his wife Joan, his sons Trey and Nathan, his daughter, Kristin, his three grandchildren, Odessa, Aeden, and Eli, his son and daughters-in-law, Chris, Angie and Gayle, his brothers Danny, Greg, and Mark, his sister Jeanie, his mother Nettie, and many nieces and nephews.

 

Herschel was a gentle and loving man who cared deeply for his family, for his friends, for humanity, and his Lord. Herschel will be deeply missed by his loved ones and will be remembered as a humble and compassionate man who loved and served well.

 

 

“What does the LORD require of you but to act justly, and love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God?” -Micah 6:8

 

 

A wake will be held Friday, May 30 at Brett Funeral Home, 4810 Central Avenue, from 5 – 7pm. The funeral mass will take place Saturday, May 31, at 11 am at St Joseph Catholic Church, 2101 22nd Avenue South.

 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Catholic Relief Services, 228 W. Lexington St. Baltimore, Maryland 21201, or Tender Mercies, 27 West 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202.


My name is Phil Obermiller. I'm part of a group of folks up in Ohio who have known Herschel for some forty years.

 

I first met Herschel when we were students in Cincinnati. It quickly became obvious that he had one of the top qualities any college-aged guy looks for in a friend: he liked cold beer and the right teams.

 

But as time went on, I came to appreciate other qualities. Herschel had a keen intellect fed by an insatiable curiosity. He was the go-to guy for an intelligent discussion. Perhaps most importantly, that intelligence was wrapped in an engaging personality.

 

And Herschel had heart. He spent time among the poorest of the poor volunteering at the Main Street Bible Center in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Those of us who worked at the Bible Center became a close community of friends, working in common cause with the neighborhood's residents. One of the members of that small group was a young woman on the Bible Center staff, Joanie Rust.

 

Eventually we all went our separate ways, even as our friendship abided. Joanie and Herschel married and moved to Florida, while I stayed in Cincinnati. Herschel became a businessman, joining the Lochner Group, while I became a teacher. I've often thought it should have been the other way around, because Herschel was a natural teacher.

 

Examples of Herschel's teaching ability come to mind, and I'd like to share some of them with you.

 

Herschel was a native Floridian, steeped in the history and lore of this state. As we visited from up north, he taught us about the people, places, plants, and peculiar critters of Florida.

 

I can clearly recall one time we were walking on a beach that looked pretty undifferentiated to me. Herschel saw it with a much more subtle eye, pointing out to me the differences among red, black, and white mangroves that we were passing.

 

And like a good teacher, Herschel just didn't talk about his home place...he changed it for the better. Over the decades of his professional life as a transportation planner Herschel made many roads safer and more scenic to travel. There's no question that the hurricane evacuation routes he designed actually save lives.

 

In talking with his Lochner coworkers at the wake last night, it became clear that Herschel always looked beyond the physical environment to the human ecology of a place. He was the one who often found a middle path among competing constituencies. And in doing so, he mentored, he taught, a whole new generation of planners how to think about their work, and the world.

 

A final example. Among their friends up north, it's never just "Herschel," it's always "Herschel and Joanie." In the past three years Herschel and Joanie have taught us a lot about courage and love.

 

But over the decades they have also taught us a lot about strong, nurturing relationships:

between themselves, with their children, with their wider families, with their community, and with their God.

 

You've taught us well, Hersch.


Herschel Conner: Our Colleague and Friend

By Jeff Schlotter

 

It is with a deep sense of loss that I prepare this reflection on our friend and

colleague, Herschel C. Conner, Jr., who died on May 23 from a rare form of liver

cancer. Herschel was 61. Having joined Lochner in 1976, Herschel spent his career in our St. Petersburg and then Clearwater office. He was an urban planner and philosopher by

education, and at Lochner was a Senior Vice President, Project Manager, and environmental specialist.

 

But he was far more than that.

 

I first met Herschel when I interviewed for my job at Lochner, in 1986, and he became my “boss” for the next 20 years. Over that time I came to respect him as a professional of the highest intelligence and integrity. I also came to love him as a friend, mentor, role model and wise and patient counselor. Time and time again I witnessed the respect that our clients and colleagues reserved for Herschel, and over the years I came to realize it was because he always showed his respect for them. He would always actively listen to what was being said, whether in a one-on-one conversation, in a formal client meeting, or at a public meeting. And then, having listened well, he would, in his quiet and calm way, provide responses that shed uncanny clarity on whatever was being discussed.

 

Herschel had boundless curiosity about the technical sciences, about history, about the social sciences, about our transportation industry and our society. He also had the ability to recall dates, facts, meetings, project details, technical procedures, and other information with remarkable accuracy. Whether directing a project or conducting internal Lochner work, he would routinely amaze me with his ability to cut through the fog and set the record straight.

 

At Lochner, or when working with the public, Herschel would never raise his voice, never interrupt (even at times when normally patient people would be exasperated). He never dominated a conversation and never outwardly showed any impatience or disrespect, even when dealing with the most belligerent and angry members of the public. When other colleagues’ puffery rendered them inconsequential, Herschel’s quiet integrity made a lasting impression.

 

And over the years that integrity has had a profound effect on me. When I started working for Herschel, while still in graduate school, I felt I knew a lot about the world. Looking back, I cringe when I recall how foolish I often behaved. But Herschel was always patient, suffering through my foolishness, my haughtiness, my insolence with just a simple, knowing smile. He understood the futility of criticism; his approach was far more effective: he simply set a consistent example. And by his example, I slowly came to realize the wisdom of his calmer, more peaceful, more humble way of maneuvering through business and life.

 

I miss Herschel Conner very much, and Lochner has suffered a great loss with his passing. He was a gracious, caring person, whose faith guided him throughout his life — a life that some might say was unfairly shortened by his disease. But he would never use the word “unfair”; his faith never wavered. I’m told he was serene, unafraid, and very much at peace to the very end, which didn’t surprise me. I can remember him reminding me that change is inevitable and “to everything, there is a season.”

Comments (1)

Travis May said

at 5:22 pm on May 23, 2011

Thanks for sharing this! He sounds like a great guy!

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