Kenneth Evan Herman

Kenneth Evan Herman, traveler, music lover, data analyst, wood carver, family man, and sportsman has died and left us for better pastures. In his lifetime he enjoyed all the types of skiing - water, alpine, and nordic and he had the broken bones to prove it. He windsurfed, whacked away at tennis balls as well as golf balls, and ran an abundance of 10K races. He hunted grouse, geese, deer, elk and once, while late night fishing, caught a 36" Muskie, a real beaut, who put up a good fight. Ken was the product of a marriage between a Shorewood socialite (Harriet Williams) and a Bonduel farmer (Doc Herman). Harriet and Doc met at Ripon college, and after marriage settled on a gentleman’s farm in Waukesha county to raise Ken and his brother Keith. They grew up in the depression/WWII era, attending the Calhoun one room schoolhouse and then Waukesha High School. Ken, an eagle scout, graduated high school with the class of 1954. A BS in Economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison followed in 1958. He pledged Alpha Chi Rho and on a lucky night at a Delta Zeta beer social he met Rita Elsa Schmiedeskamp. She became his wife in 1959. As a Naval officer he served in the Mediterranean with the Supply Corps aboard the USS RIGEL. After the Navy he became a father. His oldest, a son, Steven Kenneth Herman, was born in Milwaukee, WI in 1962. A few years later he received his MBA from Georgia State University. He and Rita returned to Milwaukee just in time to welcome his second child, a girl, Amy Dianne (Herman) Carlson to the world in 1967. Ken’s career as a Data Analyst started when the tsunami that would become the digital age was just a ripple on the water, including stints with Allis Chalmers and Blue Cross Blue Shield; he retired from IBM in 1999. Just last year a headhunter called asking if he would consult on a DB2 project. Ken mixed a mean Brandy Old Fashioned, the loss of which will be lamented by family and friends. He never minded being roused from a nap with the words, “Hey someone wake up Ken, we need more old fashioneds.” He meticulously documented his family’s life over the years, filling trays of slides with his photography: children clustered around birthday cakes, Easter hats and Easter baskets, waterskiers framed by plumes of water reaching skyward, shiny musical instruments and inpatient musicians at Bandorama, hunting trophies, and those classic scenic view shots from hot road trips in the family station wagon. In retirement, he and Rita traveled to six of the seven continents on countless adventures that included wonders of the world as well as hole in the wall hideaways; some highlights include India, New Zealand, Egypt, South Africa and Iceland. In recent years, Ken faced increasing Neurological challenges that eluded diagnosis. He is survived by his wife Rita: Son Steven (Lorrie): Daughter Amy (Eric): grandchildren Henry, Ana, and Jay: and Brother Keith (Cathy). The family would appreciate donations to the Davis Phinney Foundation and the American Heart Association in lieu of flowers. Ken asked that no memorial service be held which could jeopardize the health of his family and friends, in keeping with his wishes there will be no memorial service.