Robert Herring details path to longtime career in education and service to the church

Cutline-Body Copy:Bob and Barbara Herring pose for a photo Thursday, June 29, at their home in Cape Girardeau.

Fred Lynch

For Robert Herring, a simple question changed the course of his entire life.

Many books have been written about the raising of children, but Herring's mother had only two rules: "go to school and to church."

The Herrings lived in between Conway and Martinville, Arkansas. From a family of eight, Herring was the youngest. Growing up during the depression was hard, but it became even more difficult when Herring's father passed away. Herring was only 4 years old. Since his older brothers had good jobs working at a box-making factory during World War II, Herring and his mother lived with one of the other brothers for about five years.

Herring attended many one-room schools during his elementary years. He was to move often. One of his friends quipped, "Bob, you were migrant before migrant was cool." The first school was about 8 miles from his home, which meant he had to tromp through lots of mud just to catch the bus. Frequent rainy weather made getting to school difficult; Herring's attendance suffered. The report card comments the first year read: "promoted to the high first grade." He was to learn that "high first grade" was a euphemism for failing. Even so, he excelled in nearly every subject except arithmetic.

He moved to a school nearer home and repeated the first grade. He was successfully promoted in all subjects except arithmetic. But, he was on the move again, and when asked what grade he was in, he said the second. Working hard, he improved his arithmetic and advanced to the third grade.

By seventh grade, his family had moved to Gideon, Missouri. A friendly force intervened there and re-directed the course of his life. The school's principal asked Herring's teacher, "Which one of your boys would make the best elementary teacher?" Two names were given.

"The teacher seemed to think that the other guy was probably a better fit than I was," Herring says.

The principal said both should complete the scholarship application. Only Herring was awarded the scholarship. He graduated from Gideon in 1955 with a generous $1,200 scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University majoring in speech and English. In 1955, a semester's fee was $75, so his scholarship completely covered his undergraduate degree. After graduating, he returned home to Gideon to teach.

Herring had a few college classes with Barbara Bentley, yet they never dated. But, when the young lady's classroom was just down the hall from his, they started seeing each other. The couple married Dec. 26, 1960, and raised three daughters, Shelley, Robin and Kathy.

"Barb retired after every daughter was born," Herring says.

The Herrings resided in Gideon, working in that district for 20 years. Eventually they decided to move to Cape Girardeau in 1984.

For the next two years, Herring served as the superintendent of the Jackson R-2. Next, he was the superintendent of the Special School District in Pemiscot County. Herring helped establish a vocational educational trade school, which is still in operation.

"It was a tough job because the school had been operating in the red for three years. But, fortunately, they were able to pass a tax levy increase, which was a surprise," Herring says.

His next position was the state supervisor of instruction for the State Department of Education; since his office was on the Southeast campus, the family moved to Cape Girardeau. Then, Herring furthered his education at Southern Illinois University, earning his doctorate in educational leadership in 1988.

When he would attempt to retire, schools kept calling him back. One afternoon while Herring was doing some yard work, Dr. Kenneth Dobbins, the then-university president at Southeast, stopped by and asked him if he knew anyone who would be interested in serving as the director of Dual Credit at the university. Then he asked, "Would you?" Herring acquiesced and worked in that capacity until 2003, giving him close to 43 years working in the field of education, serving students ranging from toddlers to doctoral candidates.

"I've taught kids from 3 to 65, probably," he says.

Herring also felt the call to preach and went on to serve two churches: the First Baptist Church in Bertrand, Missouri, from 1996 until 2004 and then the Illmo Baptist Church in Scott City from 2006 until around 2011. He filled in at various churches between his longer stays.

"When I look back, I see that God has had a plan for me and he brought people into my life to help me follow that plan," Herring says.