Ira Herron

At the age of 16 he moved to Cairo Illinois where he met his future wife to be in school. He had seen her a few times previously during visits to his aunt and uncles house during summer vacations.

He joined the United States Air Force and went to basic training with his brother Ardy Joe (AJ) in 1952.

In January of 1957 he married Mearl Braizer Herron in Cairo and they reported back to his duty station in Nebraska. Over the next several years they would add four wonderful children to their family, Henry, Bobby, Bernice, and Adrian “Lamont”.

During his military service he was stationed at Smoky Hills AFB, Topeka Kansas, Forbes AFB, Lincoln Nebraska; Lockbourne AFB, Stewart AFB, Tennessee; Little Rock AFB and Clark AFB, in the Philippines.

He also served at numerous temporary duty stations: Greenham Commons, England; Newfoundland; Thule AFB, Greenland; Philippines x 3 tours; and Vietnam x 2 tours, the most intense being in January 1968 during the famous TET Offensive.

He retired from military service 30 March 1972, and the family settled down in Cairo, Illinois where he became a long time member and faithful servant of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. Ira would work the next 20 years at CB Print Department before fully retiring in 1992, where he became a bicycle repair man for the neighborhood children. In July of 2020, he moved out west to Las Vegas to spend his remaining golden years enjoying his favorite past time…Smoking Cigars!

Ira was preceded in death by his parents, wife Mearl Herron, brother AJ and sister Audrey.

He leaves to cherish his memory one sister; Beatrice Becton, sons; Henry Herron, Bobby Herron, and Adrian “Lamont” Herron, daughter; Bernice Haywood, daughters-in-law; Sharon Herron and Andrette Brown Herron, son-in-law; Walter H. Haywood Jr., ten grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, five great grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.