| Dad passed away peacefully in his home on July 29, 2014, after a long battle with prostate cancer that began in 2002. Initial radiation treatments, and subsequent therapies allowed him many more happy years with those he loved. Dad was born in Evanston, Illinois and grew up in Rogers Park. He graduated from Sullivan High School in 1943 and was a member of the ROTC Drill Team for 3 years and on the rifle team for 2 years. He then attended Northwestern University Technological Institute evening courses for one year, taking courses in Naval Architecture and Ship Drafting. He began working at the Calumet Shipyard and Drydock Co. as a Junior Draftsman on government ship building contracts. In the spring of 1944, he responded to the call of duty and enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet and was called to active duty in August 1944. Dad served in the Army Air Corps for 2 years as an airplane mechanic. He was trained to be a Flight Engineer on B-32's, but the war ended as the plane was just being activated in the Pacific Theater. While he was stationed in the South Pacific, he worked as a ground crew mechanic on B-29's on Tinian in the Marianas and Luzon in the Philippines. After receiving an honorable discharge from military service in August 1946, he attended the University of Illinois, graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1951. He married his sweetheart, Mary Jane Schuler, "Janie", in 1952. He obtained a job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Chicago District Office, which he went on to hold for the duration of his career, over 40 years, and is a member of their gallery of Distinguished Employees. He worked on both vertical (military structures) and horizontal construction (harbor, shoreline, river, flood contact structures) and A/E contract administration, retiring in 1990. He then returned to work until 1996. Travel was one of the great joys of his life, whether it was the early years of summer vacation road trips in the family "Are we there yet?" station wagon, hopping cross-country between Holiday Inns, or the later years of visiting Europe and sailing the seas aboard modern cruise ships with Janie. Preceded in death by his wife of 61years Mary Jane, and his sister Carol Morrison, Dad is survived by four children, James (Fae), Tom (Nancy), Nancy Romack and Carol, as well as five grand-children, Taylor, Katie and Andrew Romack, Leah and Bryant Herlocker. Visitation Tuesday 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Donnellan Family Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. at Old Orchard Rd. Skokie, IL 60077. Funeral Mass Wednesday 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Church, 1747 Lake Ave. Wilmette, IL 60091. Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=harwood-herlocker&pid=171933366&fhid=16976#sthash.J36m6spG.dpuf |
Harwood Oxley Herlocker Jr.