Donald Herbert Brock
August 26, 1947 - January 16, 2021
On August 26, 2021, I tried calling Herb several times in Lansing to wish him a happy birthday. All calls went directly to voicemail. Later that evening, I called Herb's younger brother Mike in Lansing to see if he was aware of Herb having cell phone issues, as I was trying to call him. There was a moment of silence, then he said, "Herb died in January". I was speechless for a moment. Then he began the sad story.
Between Christmas and New Years of 2021 Herb called Mike one evening to say that he was short of breath. Mike took him to the ER, and after some tests, including a heart catheterization, they found that Herb's heart was badly occluded and he underwent immediate heart stent surgery. Herb was in rehab for a few days, then began having breathing issues again. It worsened to the point that he had to be placed on a ventilator. He eventually passed away on January 16th. Mike is quite sure that Herb contracted COVID-19 during his initial hospital stay. Herb wanted to be cremated and not buried, with his ashes taken back to Gaylord and scattered around the area. And, Mike said that he didn't want anyone to know that he died, and didn't want an obituary, funeral or memorial service.
Jan White
Herb was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1966. He served two years, primarily in South Korea as a truck driver. He was discharged in 1968 in Texas and returned to his job working for the state of Michigan Road Commission in Lansing on a survey crew. Not too long after that he was hired by the railroad and worked at a rail yard in Lansing repairing and inspecting railroad cars. During his time at the railroad, he bought hundreds of vinyl music albums as he loved music. When the VCR was released in the early 80s he also purchased hundreds of movies on video tape. When compact discs were released in the early 90s he began buying music CDs to replace all his vinyl records. Then, when DVDs hit the market, and up until his passing, he bought hundreds of movies on DVDs to replace his VHS tape collection. He had the largest collection of movies and music I'd ever seen!
When he retired from the railroad after thirty-four years in 2002, he purchased a home in Atlanta, Michigan. Classmate Bob Nickerson and I visited Herb at his Atlanta home several times during those years. In 2014 he returned to Lansing to be closer to his brother Mike. The last time I spoke with Herb was on August 27, 2020.
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