Mary A. Herman, 51, of Decorah, Iowa, formerly of Waukon, Iowa, died suddenly on Thurs., Jan. 9, 2020, at her home. A celebration of life was held on Sun., Jan. 19, 2020, at Decorah Lutheran Church. A memorial service was held Mon., Jan. 20, 2020 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Waukon with Pastor Bryan Robertson officiating. Martin Funeral Home in Waukon handled arrangements.
Mary Ann Herman was born to Alton and Margaret (Christianson) Herman in Waukon, Iowa, on May 15, 1968. She was baptized and confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon. She graduated from Waukon High School in 1986; Mary then moved to Iowa City and worked at the Good Shepherd Day Care Center for two years while she started taking classes at Kirkwood Community College.
She moved to Cedar Falls in 1988 to continue her college education at the University of Northern Iowa. Mary held several part-time positions during this phase of her life. After three years, she returned to Waukon, where she worked several part-time jobs to support her passion: involvement in high school athletics, music, and drama events. She developed a webpage for the Northeast Iowa Conference to post scores and stats. Starting in 1991, Mary spent 10 years as a statistician and scorekeeper for Waukon athletic programs.
Mary returned to school at Luther College from 1994 to 1996, where she majored in communications with an emphasis in sports management. She then did a six month internship for the Sun Belt Conference as an assistant director of media relations. This gave her the chance to be a media support staff volunteer at Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans in 1997 and she also worked at the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championship in March.
She had some amazing opportunities in these venues, but she was discovering that her real passion was not with college and professional athletes, but rather working with athletes and students who are just beginning to discover who they are and what their potential is. This led to her migration from Waukon to Decorah, where she started as an athletic administrative assistant. She held this position for 20 years, where she excelled at nurturing and encouraging students at Decorah High School.
Mary is survived by her mother Margaret Herman of Waukon. She is also survived by four of her six siblings: Ron (Beverly) Herman of Iowa City, Don (Linda) Herman of Ankeny, Iowa, Dennis (Julie) Herman of Lansing, Iowa, and Dewey (Tina) Herman of Decorah; her sister-in-law Penny Herman-Zoll; along with several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Mary was preceded in death by her father Alton Herman (2014); her brother David in infancy; her brother John (2018); and a special uncle Virgil Christianson (2016).
Honorary casketbearers are Becca Bruegge, Karlee and Lisa Bullerman, Fayla Cannon, Julie Dahlen, Tony and Liz Fox, Alicia and Josh Herman, Andrea Herman Gugliuzza, and Delores Koch.