Naomi Herron

Naomi Ruth Herron was called home to be with the Lord on Sunday, June 19, 2011. She was born in the Bronx, NY on May 4, 1923, the oldest child of Frieda and Daniel Schildwachter. A teacher by avocation, she graduated with an Associates Degree from Concordia College, Bronxville, NY, received her Bachelor of Science in Education, cum laude, from New York University and a Master’s Degree in Reading from Montclair State University in New Jersey. Her teaching career included stints as Director of a Preschool, a Reading Specialist in Edison, New Jersey and as a supervisor of student teachers at Keane College in New Jersey and Hood College in Frederick, but the highlight of her career was her work with a small group of sixth grade boys. To inspire them to read, she would bring in articles on subjects that might capture their imaginations. Their most notable project was following the attempts at balloon flight by Malcolm Forbes. Their correspondence with Mr. Forbes led to him sending one of his hot air balloons to their school. The boys got to help handle the ropes while their teacher ascended in the craft. They made plaques to commemorate the visit which are in the International Balloon Museum of Balleroy, France. Mrs. Herron’s memorabilia of that event are now in the National Balloon Museum in Indianola, Iowa.

Mrs. Herron was also a world traveler. With her husband of 62 years, William Herron, Sr., she lived in Scotland for four years and travelled extensively throughout eastern and western Europe, North and South America, China, Russia, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. However, the trip she organized in 2010 to Fredericksburg, VA for her siblings’ 20 ^th reunion was perhaps the one for which she would most like to be remembered.

Mrs. Herron’s moved to Worman’s Mill in September of 1991 and has been very active in the community ever since. She had been a member of Peace in Christ Lutheran Church in Walkersville and currently belongs to Messiah Lutheran Church in Germantown. As a member of 50+ circle of the Lutheran Woman’s Missionary League at Messiah, she was active in making quilts for Lutheran World Relief. She also volunteered as a docent for the Historical Society of Frederick County and was involved in the Civic Association, Welcome Wagon and numerous bridge clubs, including Fourth Fridays, the first Duplicate Bridge group in Worman’s Mill,. In honor of her 88 ^th birthday she presented that group with her set of twenty four boards.

Mrs. Herron was predeceased in March of 2007 by her husband and in March of 2008 by her son, Bill, Jr. She is survived by Bill’s widow, Cheryl of Cincinnati, her daughters and their husbands, Janet & Lou DeMonaco of Clarkston, MI and Ruth & David Horak of Frederick, five grandsons and their families, including three great-grandchildren, Rayshood Herron of Cincinnati, Philip DeMonaco of Rochester Hills, MI, Matthew Herron of Chicago, Craig, Jessica, Nicole and Andrew Horak of Seabrook, TX and Stephen, Jennifer and Grace Horak of Falls Church, her brother in law, Robert Herron of Austerlitz, NY and siblings and their spouses Joan and Walter Muench of Washington, NC, Daniel and Friede Schildwachter of White Plains, NY, John and Helen Schildwachter of White Bear Lake, MN and Carla and Paul Henschel of Mystic, CT, sixteen nieces and nephews and their families, including Godchildren Lois Schildwachter Kane, Thomas Muench and Kenneth Gigstad.

The family will receive friends at the Stauffer Funeral Home, 1621 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick on Friday, June 24, 2011 from 3-5PM and 7-9PM. Funeral Services will be held at the Messiah Lutheran Church, 13901 Clopper Road, Germantown, MD on Saturday, June 25 at 11AM with Pastor R. Burk Hill officiating.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Messiah Lutheran Church, 13901 Clopper Road, Germantown, MD 20874 or to Trinity First Lutheran School 1115 E. 19 ^th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55404.