This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

David Herrick died on Nov. 15 from a sudden and unexpected heart attack three days earlier, with his wife Ann at his side. He was born in Lafayette, Indiana, on May 9, 1947, to Robert and Colleen (Kane) Herrick. At the age of one he and his parents moved to Metuchen, New Jersey.

David attended grade school there and had many fun times and adventures in the park, woods, and playgrounds with his school and neighborhood friends. He played Little League baseball, and one year batted 581, a number that later found its way into his many passwords.

When David was eleven, his family moved to Clinton. At The Morgan School he was an excellent student who served as president of his class, made the National Honor Society, and won the Bausch & Lomb Science award. He also participated in band and chorus. With the chorus he played piano at the World’s Fair in New York his senior year. He was also in a band with three friends and played at various events.

David also loved sports. He lettered in baseball, basketball, and soccer, and in his senior year the school soccer team won the State Soccer Championship. It was at Morgan that he met Ann Crowder, the love of his life.

After graduating from The Morgan School, David attended the University of Rochester, where he majored in chemistry, his specific area of interest being physical theoretical chemistry. He and Ann married just before the start of his senior year, on Sept. 7, 1968. After graduation they moved to New Haven, where David attended graduate school at Yale. Their daughter Jennifer was born there in 1969.

David received his Ph.D. in chemistry in June of 1973, and accepted a postdoctoral position at Bell Labs in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. In August of 1975 he, Ann, and Jennifer moved to Eugene, where David had accepted a position in the chemistry department at the University of Oregon. His research focused on theoretical chemistry and chemical physics, with emphasis on novel approaches to issues involving atomic and molecular structure. His honors and awards included Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, John S. Guggenheim Fellow, and American Physical Society Fellow. He enjoyed teaching, and tried to make a tough class fun. Students appreciated the help sessions he offered and the practice quizzes he posted on his website.

He enjoyed playing the piano at various university events, including the annual chemistry department holiday dinners, and at many dean’s receptions over the years.

It was at Oregon that David and his family also discovered the joys of Duck football, and they quickly became season ticket holders, attending all the home games and several bowl games. They saw the lows, the upswings, and the highs of the team, through thick and thin, rain and shine, day games and night games.

A few years ago David started having problems walking and feeling dizzy and in 2012 was diagnosed with an extremely rare autoimmune disease, so he decided to retire then. He tried to do as much as he could to enjoy retirement and did learn that in retirement “every day is Saturday.” In 2015 he and Ann, Jennifer, and her husband Mark, went on a trip to Connecticut for David’s fiftieth high school reunion. It was a truly wonderful time for the four of them together and one which David treasured.

He is survived by his wife, Ann; daughter Jennifer Herrick Slipp (Mark); brother Dick Herrick (Tiki); sister Barbara Celkupa (Tony); and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother Rob Herrick.

A celebration of life will be held Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. in the chapel at Lane Memorial Gardens at 5300 West 11th, Eugene. Those attending the service are encouraged to wear Oregon Duck colors or blue, David’s favorite color. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the University of Oregon Science Library or the Greenhill Humane Society.

May David continue to send his music, jokes, and laughter from above.