Dr. F. Bruce Herrington, born March 18, 1938, died on November 16, 2022, at the age of 84, after a productive life of service.
Bruce is predeceased by his beloved wife of 60 years, Emily Susanne Eady Herrington of Oxford, Georgia; his parents, Walter Frank Herrington and Mattie Barry Glass Herrington, and his brother David W. Herrington, Sr., all of Shawmut, Alabama. He is survived by his children, James Drew Herrington (wife Susan), Elizabeth Anne Herrington (wife Cindi), Susan Marie (Herrington) Klugman (husband Dave), and Catherine Emmalise (Herrington) Elmore (husband John), and his sisters-in-law Sue (Finley) Herrington of Shawmut, Alabama and Louise (Norton) Eady of Oxford, Georgia. He is also remembered by his nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Born in Shawmut, Alabama, a small textile mill village now part of Valley, Bruce attended Shawmut School and graduated from Valley High School in Fairfax, Alabama. He began his undergraduate studies at LaGrange College in Georgia, where he earned the A.B. degree after an interim period at Baylor University. A life-long learner, he received his Master of Education degree from Boston University, and then his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia at the age of 62. Later, he earned a Certificate in Public History from the University of West Georgia. His academic interests centered on situated cognition theory and the socio-cultural-historical foundations of education.
He served for over 20 years as full-time faculty at Mercer University teaching courses in social history for working adults who attend college part time, all of which he co-taught with Emily. Prior to that, he worked for the Department of the Navy, serving as an intelligence officer, instructional systems designer, and program manager. He was honorably discharged from the Navy at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In his youth, Bruce was an Eagle Scout, and later was a co-founder and first full time president of the Rotary Club of Camden County, Georgia. After marrying in 1960, Emily and Bruce moved together with their children 29 times, having adventures together in Waco, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Norfolk, Virginia; Naples, Italy (twice); Great Lakes, Illinois; St. Mary’s, Georgia; and Stafford, Virginia, among other places.
Private interments will take place in Shawmut, AL and Oxford, GA. Tributes in their memory may be sent to the Emily and Bruce Herrington Music Award, c/o Mark Davis, Development Office, LaGrange College, 601 Broad Street, LaGrange, Georgia 30240.
