Dr. George Herndon

Dr. George Y. Herndon, 89, of Jonesboro, died Wednesday, July 4, 2012, at the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House.

Born in Pineville, Louisiana, Dr. Herndon earned a Bachelor degree in music from Louisiana College in Pineville and a Master degree in speech pathology from the University of Iowa. He was Director of an Easter Seal Clinic in Easton, Maryland, and then a professor of speech pathology at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma for several years. He earned a Doctorate in speech pathology from the University of Oklahoma and moved to Jonesboro in 1968 to establish the speech pathology program at Arkansas State University. He retired from ASU in 1985.

Dr. Herndon was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of W.W. II and a member of First United Methodist Church in Jonesboro. While living in Oklahoma, Dr. Herndon was choir director at Trinity United Methodist Church in Enid.

Dr. Herndon was selected as one of the distinguished first one hundred faculty to serve ASU in the first century who were featured in a book published to mark the centennial of the university, 1909-2009 Celebrating the First Century of Arkansas State University. He was preceded in death by his parents, Atmar H., Sr. and Ruth Coles Herndon, and by two brothers, Atmar Herndon, Jr. and Edward J. Herndon.

Survivors include his wife, Mae Herndon of the home;
1 daughter, Terri Herndon Reno of Jonesboro;
1 son and daughter-in-law: Jeff and Martha Herndon of Jonesboro;
3 grandchildren: Andrew Reno of Jonesboro, Nicole (J.T.) Henry of Beaumont, Texas, and Courtney Herndon of The Woodlands, Texas; and
4 great grandchildren: Alaina Henry, John Henry, Ashley Henry and T.J. Henry.

Graveside funeral services will be held Monday morning at 10:30 in Oaklawn Cemetery with Rev. John Miles and Rev. Patty Soward officiating. Honorary pallbearers include Jeff Herndon, Andrew Reno, Rick Neeley, Mike McDaniel, Bill and Joyce Thompson and Jane LeBlanc.

Visitation will be held Sunday from 5-7pm at Emerson Funeral Home.

For lasting memorials, the family asks that consideration be given to the George Herndon Graduate Scholarship in Communication Disorders, ASU Foundation, Attn. Phillip Jackson, P.O. Box 1990, State University, AR 72467; memo line: Herndon Scholarship.