CPO John Earl "Jack" Herrick (USN, Ret.) was born in Portland to Florence (Wells) and Milton Herrick. The family moved to where the work was throughout the Great Depression, but Jack thought of Astoria as his hometown. He enlisted in the Naval Reserves while still in high school, and entered active duty upon graduation, serving in the Korean War from a Naval Air Base in Japan. After the war, he worked several civilian jobs, including as a ballroom dance instructor, before returning to active Naval duty. In 1970, he met (on the dance floor) and married the love of his life, Rosemary LaVerne Dickey, and gained an instant family, followed by another daughter in 1971. The Navy took the family from Seattle to the Naval War College in Rhode Island, then up the California coast, before his retirement 30 years after his first enlistment. Jack used his GI Bill to study Business, earning both a BA and MBA, which led to a second career in the Civil Service with the Defense Contract Audit Agency, and an eventual return to the Northwest. Jack and Rosemary kept busy after hours working for the SuperSonics, Seahawks, and especially their beloved Mariners, into their 80s, and loved dancing together until they were physically unable to do so. They actively supported the arts and progressive causes. Jack lost Rosemary in 2016, shortly after he was diagnosed with late-onset dementia. He remained in mostly good spirits, though, and was able to live out his days in his own home in Monroe, Washington, with the help of his daughter and son-in-law. He passed the morning of February 15th, 2024, with family near.

Preceded in death by his parents; his older brother William; and his wife Rosemary, Jack is survived by his daughter Tina-Joy Herrick (Hank Wirtz), and stepchildren Diane Spahr, Karan Duquette (Norm), Steven Oien (Hanne Thiede), and Jeffrey Oien.

A memorial celebration was held in Monroe on what would have been his 92nd birthday. He was a wise and kind man, loved by all.