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Wiley Granvil "Mutt" Herman
contributed by The Hugo Daily News

    Wiley Granvil "Mutt" Herman passed away on February 9, 2005 in Hood River, Oregon. He was born in a tent on March 28, 1918 on the 80 acre Herman farm northwest of Soper at Buckhorn. The Herman family was in the process of building a home at the time of his birth.
    Their garden was huge by today's standards with various types of beans, corn, tomatoes, okra, black-eyed peas, squash etc. The Herman's also had a watermelon patch and a cantaloupe patch each year as well as having a few peach, apple, pear, apricot, plum, pecan and walnut trees.
    His dad farmed with horses and mule teams. They had 19 cows that had to be milked twice a day. And, dad was not exempt from this duty. The cream would be separated from the milk and taken to town and sold or made into butter. The milk would be for the family, kept cool by lowering it into the well in a bucket or fed to the pigs. They also ran cattle in the open range- only the farmed land was fenced in. In the summer, his dad would butcher a calf. Once his mother finished canning what she needed, his dad would take the rest of the calf, load it on the wagon and they would go down the road with his knife, saw and scale and ask anyone if they wanted to buy some. He would cut off steaks or roasts, weigh it and sell it. He also peddled watermelon, cantaloupes and eggs.
    Mutt loved fishing and hunting. He went with his dad and brothers on fishing trips on the Muddy Boggy River. They made their fishing poles from willow or anything that would make a good pole. They would catch the fish and put them in a barrel to keep them alive. Then, they would put a string through their gills and mouth and put them in Sugar Creek. This was their way of keeping the fish fresh up because they didn't have electricity, refrigeration or freezers.
    All the boys had their own horses. Mutt had Boston, Bird and Prince. You might say that was his only mode of transportation in those days. They would hunt for anything that was edible or had fur that could be sold. They would hunt for deer, wild turkey, squirrels, quail, etc.
    Across Mudsand Rd. was the Ray family, who had identical twins, Beulah and Eulah (Eulah McKee). As they grew up, many couldn't tell the twins apart, but dad could. It was Beulah who caught his attention.
    So, the 21-year old, red-headed, freckle-faced young man nicknamed 'Mutt' married Beulah on July 24, 1939. In the next 4 years, they became parents of 3 daughters, Roberta, Ruby and Dorothy as he continued to farm his dad's land. His only son, James Wiley Herman, was born in Andrews, Texas in 1946 while he was working in the oil fields. Then, at the urging of his brothers, he moved the family to Mosier, Oregon in the Fall of 1948. In July 1955, the baby of the family, Brenda was born.
In 1961, he was laid off from Pacific Inland Navigation when they moved their company. His childhood friend from Soper, Hulan Whitson was the principal at the school in White Salmon and urged him to apply for an opening they had for custodian. So, in 1961, he became a protector of children, a fixer of windows, a mower, and a cleaner of bathrooms and classrooms first at Columbia High School and later, Hulan Whitson Elementary School in White Salmon, Wa.
    After he retired from the White Salmon Valley Schools in 1981, he worked part-time as custodian at the Hood River Valley Christian Church, planted, watered, weeded and harvested his garden and fruit trees. He did a little bit of fishing and, with mom and their good friends from the Good Sam Club, they went places in their RV. They also took a trip to Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Hawaii and periodic trips to visit his family and friends in Oklahoma. But most of all, he was always there for his family.
    Mutt enjoyed simple pastimes like picnics at Lost Lake, searching for sand-dollars on the Oregon Coast and fishing at Greenpoint or on the Columbia River, where he once caught a 6 foot sturgeon. He was a very happy person- always laughing and smiling.
    Wiley Granvil "Mutt" Herman was preceded in death by his parents and all his siblings: his father, Robert William Franklin Herman when he was only 16 years old in 1935, his mother, Teria Keller Herman in 1960, his sister Dorthy Mae also known as "Jeff" in 1924, a brother Luther at 1 week old in 1917, brothers Bob of Durant in 2000, Hern of Soper in 1993, Sterling of Mosier, Ore. in 1989, Ercell of The Dalles, Ore. in 1980, his sister Mildred Kilgore of Longview, Wa. in 1989 and his sister Vaudine Thornley of Henderson, Texas in March 2004.
    He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Beulah, his son James "Jim" Herman and wife Luci of White Salmon, Ore., his daughters Roberta "Bobbi" Reisner, Hood River, Ore.; Ruby Pantalone of Salem, Ore.; Dorothy Herman and Brenda Herman, both of White Salmon, Wa. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren and 13 Great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins, and sisters in law Minnie Herman of Mosier, Ore., Frankie Herman of Soper and Lillie Herman of Caddo, Helen Jordan, Boswell, Mamie Bruce, Antlers,, Willa Mae Orta, Fort Worth, Jennie Ray, Salem, Ore. and Ruth Crowley, Turlock, Ca. and brother-in-law, Frank Ray of Antlers.
    Funeral services were held at Anderson's Tribute Center in Hood River on Monday, February 14, at 2 PM with internment at Idlewild Cemetery and a reception at the Hood River Valley Christian Church. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests remembrances to the Herman Family Memorial Fund c/o Anderson's Tribute Center, 1501 Belmont Dr, Hood River, Or 97031.
    Paid announcement.