Saturday, December 10, 2022
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I’ve known Jay since the 2nd grade when the Herman’s moved to Missouri in October, 1970. My earliest memories of Jay were playing together on the playground—softball, basketball, tag, hopscotch—all through elementary school. He wore heavy glasses, but so did my Dad, so I never gave it a second thought. My daughter Hailey ended up wearing glasses and she reminded me of Jay—towhead with a quiet disposition.
Jay & I both shared a passion for WWII planes. I don’t remember now who read the book first from the School of the Osage elementary library, (where Mrs Higby kept a quiet, kind eye on us all), but it was the first book I read that left an impression on me & Jay—“Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II”. It seemed like for hours we would draw fighter planes and battle scenes from our imaginations and share them with each other.
My last best memory of Jay was just this past August in Albuquerque, NM. He rode solo through the Arizona mountains, with heavy rainstorms; narrowly missing an elk crossing the road to make it into Albuquerque for a Mexican dinner with me! We shared some great memories and snapped a selfie together. I made sure Jay made it to his hotel where we parted ways with a hug and agreed we would see each other again in the near future. I had asked him to come visit me in Southern California, where we planned on going to the Planes of Fame air museum together….
You will be sorely missed my OHS brother…
With love from your friend always,
Keith Herman Jr
