Dear Jim,
It was an honor to be asked (by Mikey) to open and close your celebration of life service in Austin on Sunday. Held at the Historic Charles Johnson House on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, with a great crowd of family and friends.
I loved meeting so many special people who came to pay their respects and hearing special memories from your son, James, UT tennis coach Jeff Moore, and Mikey.
I tried to capture your spirit in my opening prayer and remarks and my closing poem from your 87th birthday with slight modifications: Just a Growing Boy from Oklahoma.
Jim, I will always treasure the five years we had together as neighbors and friends!
Rest in peace, and hook'em horns in heaven!
Page
Opening Prayer and Remarks
Dear Lord and Savior, we have gathered today to honor and celebrate the life of Colonel James Dewey Herndon (Jim) Obituary link
Be with each of us today as we think about what Jim meant to us. Help us feel and see today as a celebration, a time of joy, a time of remembering and being thankful for the good that Jim did in this world and for what Jim meant to so many people.
A devoted husband, a loving father, a friend, a neighbor, a cheerleader, a warrior, a patriot, a comedian, a confidant, a fixer, a doer, and a lover of life. Bountifully optimistic. Humble. Kind. Intelligent. Wise.
Lord, we appreciate how Jim loved his family; he loved his friends, community, and country. He was a man of courage and faith, and he understood the human spirit at a level very few can reach.
His death leaves a void in our hearts and in our community. But his presence, his ability to listen even after he lost most of his hearing, remains a gift that we all can be so grateful for having shared.
In Christ's name, we pray,
Amen
My name is G Page Singletary
My wife Cathy and our three girls, plus their significant others: Sally, Taylor, Emily, Kyle, Lucy, and Trey, we were Jim’s neighbor and Jim’s friend from November of 2016 until his passing five years later.
When Cathy and I moved to our home at 3901 A Belmont Park Drive, my good friend Doug Duke said I think my best friends live in 3901 B Belmont Park Drive. That was Mikey and Jim Herndon, our next-door neighbors, and that was our good fortune.
I am honored to be here and grateful Mikey asked me to open and close this ceremony of life. I loved Jim. I learned from Jim. I laughed with Jim. I turned to Jim in times of need. Jim personified the words ‘friend and neighbor’ and had such a beautiful approach to life.
So, as I prayed for, today should be a day of celebration. Jim would want it precisely that way.
You know what he would say if he were here, and I believe he is here . . .
“Was anybody shooting at you?”
No, not really.
"Then button it up and stop acting silly!"
