James Bernard Herzog

Jim was born Sept 4 1937, the first of 4 children to late Bernard and Martina Herzog. He was born and lived on Railroad St. in the Village Rockwood in what is the only house left standing on that street.

The family moved to Huron River Township in 1941 where they lived until returning to Rockwood in 1945. In April 1946, his dad accepted the position of Village Fire Chief, Police Chief and Superintendent of Public Works. The family moved to an apartment above the village hall where Jim lived until 1957.

Jim attended St. Mary’s Rockwood Grade school for grades 1-8. During those years, he was active in Boy Scouts, Explorer Scouts and baseball. He was also in Altar Server at St. Mary’s in his youth and again in his adult life. He attended high school at Monroe Catholic Central graduating in 1955. During high school, he was active in sports and was cashier in the high school cafeteria. Three days after graduating, he began is career banking at First National Bank of Monroe where he worked until mid-1957. On April 16, 1957, he went to work for Security Bank & Trust in Lincoln Park. He held various positions in the areas of bank management, computer and systems management, accounting and payroll management. He attended various banking and accounting schools. He remained there for almost 36 years. He retired June 30, 1992 with the title Vice President Affiliate Banking.

In August of 1957, Jim married Jeanette Skinner, his childhood sweetheart. They have been married for 68 years.

They subsequently had six children:

Suzanne(late Skip) Benyo of Naples, FL

Michael Herzog of St. Helen, MI

Mary(Dave) Griffin of Ashford, CT

late Eileen(Chuck) Przybylo of Brownstown Twp., MI

Barbara(Erin) Russell of Brownstown Twp., MI

James T.(LaDonnis) Herzog of Virginia Beach, VA

They have 16 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren with 1 on the way.

Jim’s service to the community was a natural progression of his living at the village hall for most of his adolescent life. In 1958, he joined the Rockwood Volunteer Fire Department and served until 1998, a period of 40 years having held the positions of Captain, Deputy Chief and retiring as Assistant Chief.

In 1961, a movement got underway to study the feasibility of Rockwood becoming a city. He ran for and was elected to the Charter Commission. In August of 1964, an election was held, the charter was adopted and Rockwood became a city. Jim was elected first City Treasurer and he served for 57 years retiring in Nov 2021. No one ever ran against him for the job.

His other activities: he ran is own private accounting practice; he worked preparing income taxes for Pugno Accounting and Phyllis Tax Bookkeeping Services; he coached youth baseball teams; service on Monroe Catholic Central School Board; Member of Rockwood Area Jaycees; Member of the Grand Ole Opry Fan Club; Treasurer of the Cribbage Board Collectors’ Society; Member of the Wayne County Treasurer's Association; Treasurer of Huron Meadow’s Subdivision Association; Goalie in the Downriver 30+ Hockey league.

His hobbies were: Camping; traveling to all 50 states, Canada, England and Scotland; bicycle riding; collecting cribbage boards and playing cards; participating in the Downriver Senior Olympics and Senior Spelling Bee; collection Country music LPs; model trains; playing Euchre and Pinochle; video recording community and family events. He was a dedicated fan of the Detroit Tigers and Lions.

Jim is preceded in death by his parents: Bernard and Martina Herzog; His daughter Eileen Przybylo; his brother Dale Herzog, sister-in-law Francine Herzog and Son-in-law Roger(Skip) Benyo.

Donations in his name can be made to Monroe Saint Mary Catholic Central scholarship program and the Rockwood Area Historical Society. For more information about SMCC’s Named & Endowed Scholarship programs, please contact Mr. Sean Jorgensen, SMCC President, at (734) 241-7622 ext. 300 or sjorgensen@smccmonroe.com

For more information, to send a floral arrangement or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.allore.com