William Theadore Herzog
January 22, 1932 – May 30, 2009
William Theadore Herzog died Saturday, May 30, 2009 in Beaverton, Oregon of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a degenerative lung disease. He was 77. He had retired to Mesa, Arizona, but moved to Beaverton this February to be closer to family as his disease worsened.Bill was born on January 22, 1932 to Theobald F. Herzog and Lucinda Mae Johnson Herzog on the family dairy farm on the West Snoqualmie Valley Road in the Novelty area near Duvall, Washington. He graduated from Tolt High School in Carnation, Washington in 1950. His youth was spent in hard work on the farm.Bill served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. After his tour of duty, he worked for a time in a print shop in Seattle. After that, he took a job as an ice cream maker for Safeway Stores, Inc. at its factory in Bellevue, Washington, where he worked for over 30 years.Bill is survived by his sister, Evelyn Robertson of Monroe, Washington and three children: Linda M. Herzog Howell of Bellevue, Washington; Theodore G. Herzog of Portland, Oregon, and Kathryn M. Herzog Mendes of Brunswick, Maine. He has nine grandchildren. Bill was also beloved uncle to seventeen nieces and nephews. His sister, Marjorie Herzog Price, predeceased him.Bill’s friends and family remember him as a personable, engaging man who loved to interact with others. He loved to talk, play cards and board games, and square dance. He also loved to travel, having roamed the United States in his RV since retirement, camping, attending square dance conventions, and visiting friends and relatives. Bill was a long-time resident of the Lower Snoqualmie Valley, having lived most of his life in Duvall. He also lived in Carnation, Bellevue, Bothell, and Lynnwood, Washington at times. He was active in many volunteer and civic activities in the Lower Snoqualmie Valley, including coaching Little League Baseball and soccer, serving as a councilman in Duvall, volunteering and earning his emergency medical technician license for the Duvall Volunteer Fire Department, and working on various Tolt Booster Club events. He spent hours on behind-the-scenes work such as preparing the little league baseball fields for play and driving kids home from practice in the years when there was no activity bus. He was willing and happy to help others.Bill loved his extended family. While he was always an ardent supporter of his children’s sporting activities, never missing a game, in his retirement he took on the role of family reporter, spreading news and happenings of his large extended family. He was very proud of his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and all their families.At his request, no memorial service will be held. His ashes will be interred at Novelty Cemetery and a public celebration of his life will be scheduled for Summer 2010 when more of his relatives can attend.Bill’s family suggests remembrances to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 1332 N. Halsted, Suite 201, Chicago, IL 60642, or to the Sno-Valley Senior Center, P.O. Box 96, Carnation, WA 98014.
