John 'Jack' Herron

John "Jack" Herron was born on January 29, 1928 in El Dorado, Arkansas and left this world on Memorial Day, May 25, 2009. He was the son of Mr. John Herron and Mrs. Agnes Ryan of Little Rock, Arkansas. Jack graduated from El Dorado High School and was awarded a football scholarship at Louisiana State University for his freshman year before entering the Army. Jack joined the Army and entered the Airborne and earned his wings before being deployed to Japan as part of the occupation forces following the surrender of Japan in WWII. Jack enjoyed playing football while being deployed in Japan. After a two year tour in the Army Jack returned to school at LSU. His coach was promoted to head coach at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and Jack transferred to USL to play for him. While at USL Jack continued to play football and earned All-American honors and held several USL records for punts and kickoff returns. Upon graduation from USL he continued his football career in the NFL by playing for the Dallas Texans which became the Kansas City Chiefs. In1978 he was inducted into the USL Hall of Fame.

In 1954, he married Yvonne Brett. To this marriage three children were born: Jane Marie, Suzanne Elizabeth and John Thomas. During his 54 years of marriage and being a father, Jack dedicated his life to his family. He worked in Louisiana for the next eight years before entering service with the United States State Department's Agency for International Development. His first assignment was in southeast Vietnam establishing a swine program. While in Vietnam, Jack's family lived in Taipei, Taiwan for four years. Jack finished his seven year tour in Vietnam in 1974.

Over the next year and a half, Jack and his family spent time in Louisiana, the Bahamas and Washington D.C. before being deployed to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. While in Tanzania, Jack was responsible for working with Heifer Project International in establishing a dairy operation in western Tanzania.

Jack and the family returned to the States in 1977 and made their home in Green Forest, Arkansas. Over the next 30 years Jack was actively involved in the community service with the Lions, VFW, Chamber of Commerce and served as a planning commissioner for the City of Green Forest. Upon retirement in the early 90s, Jack and Yvonne enjoyed spending time with the family and traveling abroad.

Jack is survived by his wife Yvonne, daughters Jane and Suzanne and son John Thomas. He is also survived by five grandchildren: John, Brent, Seth, Amelia and Adam.

Memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 30th at First United Methodist Church in Green Forest with Pastor Donnie Hudson officiating. Service by Smith Family Funeral Home.

Online condolences at www.smithfamilyfuneralhome.net