I'm writing this as Mom is preparing to send sympathy cards to my Uncle Hermie and Aunt Joann, and to my cousin's wife Robin. It's been a week now since Hermie passed away following a battle with cancer. I think neither of us wanted to take that final step of acknowledging the death of one so close in our family. For Mom it's almost like losing her own child. For me it's losing the first cousin in my generation of the Passley-Swiney branch of the family tree.
Hermie was born and raised in the Southwest corner of Missouri. He never lived anywhere else. He enjoyed forty years of marriage with his beautiful bride Robin. They raised their sons Travis and Drew, and Hermie lived long enough to see his grandchildren. Yet he was only 57 when he died.
He worked for Tamko Building Products, then for the City of Webb City Missouri Public Works Department. He always had an interest in sports, from high school wrestling and football to support of youth sports to sports memorabilia collecting to his love of the Kansas City Royals.
He was active in his community, particularly with the Webb City Elks Lodge #861. It's somewhat telling that he requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions should be made to the Cerebral Palsy of Tri-County Development Center or the Webb City Elks Lodge Scholarship Fund. Even at the end, his thoughts were with his community.
R.I.P. Cousin. May God's peace rest with your family.
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