• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

Vince Herrick took his airplane out every day for a spin.

"You know I always know he's flying, cause he flies over."

He went for a ride yesterday.

"Vince was a good man, I mean he built the park for the kids and he was a good man. It just amazes me that he's gone."

The 92 year old pilot died on impact after his plane took a nose-dive into the Woodhouse storage lot in Blair.

It sits just miles away from his hometown of Nickerson.

"They were just fine people and the whole community will certainly miss Vince."

Ray and Nancy Janssen have lived across from Herrick for 50 years. They say Vince was always on the move, you wouldn't know he was 92.

"For a man that age, it just seemed like he never aged."

"You'd never known it by seeing him and seeing him walk and do what he did. You would never know that."

In Nickerson Vince was known for a lot of things. Loving the neighborhood kids and his passion for flying. But most important, is his love for his wife.

He turned an empty lot into the Bebe Herrick Memorial Park, dedicated to her after her death several years back.

"He lived a really good life, on his terms. You can't be sad, you are, but  you can't be."

Hung with Christmas lights ready for the holiday, the park will sit quiet. But the town of Nickerson can smile knowing Vince died doing what he loved.