Russell Hermes
Russell James Hermes, age 90, of Miami County, Ohio, was born March 21, 1936, in Topeka, Kansas, son of Eldon Howard Hermes and Laura Marie Joy Hermes, who preceded him in death. Mr. Hermes died at Story Point of Troy, Ohio, April 17, 2026, under the kind, patient care of the wellness director and the memory care staff in collaboration with Eventus, Corso Care and Day City Hospice, for which his family is very grateful.
Russell spent his early childhood in town,
but during World War II lived on his Joy grandparents’ farm in Narka, Kansas, while his dad, of whom he was very proud, served in places like Guam and Iwo Jima, which led Russ to prefer country living. In 1948, Russell’s dad took a job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and moved the family to the New Carlisle area, where Russell attended Bethel Local Schools in Miami County for a year before moving to a Clark County rented farmhouse. He attended school in North Hampton, Ohio, and graduated with the 1954 class from the newly consolidated Northwestern High School, where he had enjoyed activities and later alumni gatherings with his close-knit classmates. Russ felt fortunate to have participated in Boy Scouts, especially its 1950 National Jamboree in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
During high school summer vacations, Mr. Hermes worked on the Hermes grandparents’ farm driving tractor in the Great Bend, Kansas, wheatfield and driving the harvest crop to the elevator. He always maintained that driving a tractor in nature had to be more enjoyable than going on a cruise.
Mr. Hermes met his wife, the former Jocelyn Lee Snyder Hermes, daughter of Preston George Snyder and Dorothy Elizabeth Tomb Snyder, by inviting her to share his hymnal at a Sunday evening service held at a fellowship center provided by the Presbyterian Church for students of The Ohio State University. The couple’s 67-year marriage was officiated in Collingwood Presbyterian Church in Toledo, Ohio, Aug. 23, 1958. They were blessed to have surviving sons and wives Edward Eldon (Jackie) Hermes, John Snyder (Diane) Hermes and Dr. David Russell (Dr. Sue) Hermes.
Since Mr. Hermes had worked for Hobart Brothers Co. in Troy, Ohio, during his summer vacations, he was hired after graduation in 1959 with a B.S. in business administration from The Ohio State University and moved with Jocelyn to Troy, Ohio. Mr. Hermes was chosen eventually to study for the company’s first data processing department, which he managed in two rooms (one for employees who typed the punch cards and the other full of big machinery that took the cards full of tiny holes to turn out sections of rolled paper) for analyzing accounting and inventory-type information. Russell lived to see computers evolve to be able to collect and communicate data with much smaller tools.
The last years of Russell’s career were spent at a Tipp City, Ohio, company in Bethel Township, Process Equipment Company, a builder of special machines, originated by Emmert and Jane Studebaker, who hired him to be a purchasing agent. Russ became, therefore, a member of the Dayton-area Purchasing Agents Association. His job evolved, as did computers. Russell’s family moved from their Tipp City house to Bethel Township to finally live in the country, where he was an active parent in his sons’ years at Bethel Local Schools, Miami County, and happily drove a tractor again on a small farm. Since he greatly valued a good public education for all children as a foundation for their success and the country’s well-being, he became a member of the school board of Bethel Local Schools; a board member of Miami County Educational Service Center; and of the Montgomery County Career Technology Center, for which he had cheered when it was being organized as a joint vocational school.
In recent years, Russell’s enjoyment of an RV, traveling and country living became troubled by dementia; but before that he loved doing things, fixing things, and helping at his church, First Presbyterian of Troy, Ohio: Sunday school; The Challengers (study, camping and service fellowship group); and especially his work as a trustee. He told his pastor several years ago that he would rather have a party instead of a somber funeral and that he would like to have the Miami-Shelby Melody Men Barbershop Chorus, of which he had been a part, sing. Maybe this summer when his sisters visit, that might happen; but someday at the family’s convenience, his cremains will be placed beside his parents’ gravesite in the rural cemetery, Maple Grove, Narka, Kansas, among ancestors and friends.
Others surviving besides Jocelyn, his wife, and Russell’s sons are his sisters, Dr. Sharon Joy Hermes (Richard) Wilson and Dr. Maridelle Anne Hermes (Dr. John) Mehling. Although Mr. Hermes’ stepmother, Neva Jean McChesney Joy Hermes, and her son, Jonny Joy, have passed away, her daughters, Vivian Joy Dirks and Deb Joy (Pat) Knox and their families, as well as Jonny’s, survive. Probably because of the extra time spent with his grandparents, Russell, the oldest of his cousins, had a close relationship with these and his other Joy and Hermes cousins. His sister-in-law, Dorette Tomb Snyder Ward, came to live with Jocelyn and Russell to help Russell live at home longer than he might have done, which was a welcome gift. Mr. Hermes thoroughly enjoyed and was proud of his family, which includes his grandchildren: Anthony Russell (Jose) Hermes; Allison Ellen Hermes (Mitchell) Morris; and Matthew Preston Hermes.
If anyone is inclined to make a donation in Russell’s memory, suggestions would be to the congregation of encouraging friends in Christ that he joined 66 years ago: First Presbyterian Church, 20 S. Walnut St., Troy, OH 45373, or a foundation of your choice.