Gerald Neal “Jake” Herring, Jr., 100, of Tifton passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, at his home, surrounded by his family. His funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, June 20, 2022, at Tifton’s First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Jay Roberson and the Rev. Trevor Ward officiating. The family will receive friends in the Social Hall of Tifton’s First United Methodist Church, immediately following the service. Mr. Herring will be laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery in a private family graveside service.
The service will be live-streamed at Youtube.com/tiftonfumc.
Jake Herring IV, Joseph Herring, Kellis Herring, Mike Turner, Paul Fulwood and Knight Miller will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be the employees of Herring CPA Group.
Born October 24, 1921, in Tifton, Mr. Herring was the son of the late Gerald Neal Herring, Sr. and Carolyn Greene Herring. He served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II in Panama and the Pacific Theater. He graduated with honors from the University of Georgia with a Bachelors degree in Accounting. He founded what is now Herring CPA Group in Tifton on May 15, 1950. He was a member of Tifton’s First United Methodist Church, where he was a Sunday School teacher and a member of the Nath Williams (Tree) Sunday School class for 40 years. He was also a member of the Tifton Rotary Club for over 70 years, where he was a Paul Harris Fellow; the Ferry Lake Fishing Club; the ABAC President’s Club; and served on the ABAC Foundation and the Tift County Development Authority.
Mr. Herring is survived by his wife, Harriet Holmes Herring of Tifton; two sons and daughters-in-law, James and Judy Herring of Tifton and Neal and Kally Herring of Hawthorne, Florida; one daughter and son-in-law, Pearl and John Cox of Franklin, Tennessee; seven grandchildren, Gerald Neal Herring IV, Katherine Herring Solis, Lucy Cox Miller, Joseph M. Herring, Betsy Cox Moran, Sarah Jean Herring and Kellis James Herring; and eight great-grandchildren.
Flowers will be accepted, or memorial gifts may be made to First United Methodist Church, 107 12th Street, Tifton, GA 31794, or the ABAC Foundation John L. Herring Scholarship Fund, 2802 Moore Highway, Tifton, GA 31794.