Richard G. Herndon 1915-2003 Obituary
Richard G. Herndon, 88, of 47 Aluswood Ave., Wheeling, died Saturday, May 24, 2003, at his home.
He was born Jan. 20, 1915, in Clarksburg, the son of the late R.B. Herndon and Mary Conway Herndon.
He attended St. Michael’s Grade School and Central Catholic High School in Wheeling. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and law degree from Ohio State University, and commenced his law practice in Wheeling in 1938.
At the time of his death, he was the founding and senior partner of the law firm of Herndon, Morton, Herndon & Yeager. He worked for many years to better health care for the Wheeling area.
He was devoted to the charitable mission of Wheeling Hospital, where he served as a member of the board of directors from 1963 to 1987. From 1970 to 1973, he also served as president of the board of directors of Wheeling Hospital where he worked tirelessly on financial planning, fund raising and construction of the hospital’s new facilities at Medical Park. During his time on the board, he worked to continue the successful expansion of the hospital’s facilities and services to the community.
Since 1963, he served as treasurer and member of the board of directors of the Welty Home for the Aged Inc., which operated as a custodial care home known as “The Welty Home.” In 1970, with other dedicated volunteers, he commenced the organization and construction of the Good Shepherd Nursing Home as a division of the Welty Home for the Aged Inc. He continued to expand Good Shepherd Nursing Home into the largest non-profit nursing home in West Virginia. In 1984, he commenced the organization and construction of the Welty Retirement Apartments. In 2001 he was the moving force in providing a new service to the elderly by the expansion of the Welty Home’s operations to provide assisted living services to its residents who need assistance with daily living, but who do not otherwise require nursing home care.
He was a member of the finance and investment committee of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and volunteered his efforts in service to Bishop Swint, Bishop Hodges, Bishop Shulte and Bishop Schmitt. For more than 30 years, he served successively with Bishop Hodges, Bishop Shulte and Bishop Schmitt as a co-trustee of The Clara Welty Trust for the benefit of Welty Home for the Aged Inc.
Richard Herndon was a long time member of the board of directors of Security National Bank & Trust Co., where he also served as chairman of its holding company Spectrum Financial Cooperation.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia Holler Herndon; brothers, John Herndon of Pittsburgh, Pa., Edward Herndon of Bethesda, Md., and James Herndon of Akron, Ohio; and his sister, Mary Lee Herndon of Wheeling. He was also preceded in death in 1980 by his eldest child, Judith A. Herndon, who was his law partner and a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and the West Virginia Senate.
He is survived by his daughter, Patricia, and her husband, Capt. Thomas Vermillion USAF(retired) of Niceville, Fla.; granddaughters, Colleen Vermillion and Stephanie Dockstader, and her husband, Shiloh; a son, Dr. Richard G. Herndon Jr. and his wife, Rebecca, of Wheeling; grandsons, Richard G. Herndon III and James Herndon and granddaughter, Bonnie Katherine Herdon; son Gregory J. Herndon and his wife, Laura Davis Herndon of Wheeling; granddaughter, Alexa Herndon and grandson, Evan Herndon; a sister, Betty Herndon of Wheeling; and a nephew, Denis W. Busch and his wife, Linda, of Bridgeport, Ohio.
Friends will be received today from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Altmeyer Funeral Home, 154 Kruger St., Elm Grove.
Funeral liturgy with Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheeling with the most Rev. Bernard W. Schmitt as celebrant. Interment will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling.
The family requests that Richard G. Herndon be remembered by memorial contributions to the Judith Herndon Scholarship Fund at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy.
Richard G. Herndon 1915-2003 Obituary
