Herbert E. Pianka

When I was a kid back in the 1940s and 1950s, I always looked forward to my birthday card from Uncle Herb, which always included a mint $5 bill. That was an enormous amount of money back then, enough to buy me a hundred candy bars (they were only 5 cents then!). A nickel was a lot of money. Herb came to visit me once when I was in College in Minnesota in the early 1960s. We were not allowed to have cars and he had a brand new Pontiac. He took me out for a ride, pulled over, and offered me the driver's seat of his fancy new car. I was cautious, driving fairly slowly, but Herb said "give it some gas and see what it can do." Here is an old family photo of Johann, Anna, and their 5 kids (Herb is on the left in the back row and my Dad Walter in in the middle). These were some staunch hardworking German immigrants!

I remember Herb the same as my brother Eric. He was generous but distance back in the 50's and 60's restricted how often we got to see him. He was a good Uncle and never forgot a birthday while we were young.

My deepest condolences.  May these few words from the Holy Scriptures bring you comfort in your time of grief...

John 11:32-45

32 And so Mary, when she arrived where Jesus was and caught sight of him, fell at his feet, saying to him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping and the Jews that came with her weeping, groaned in the spirit and became troubled; 34 and he said: “Where have YOU laid him?” They said to him: “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus gave way to tears. 36 Therefore the Jews began to say: “See, what affection he used to have for him!” 37 But some of them said: “Was not this [man] that opened the eyes of the blind man able to prevent this one from dying?”

38 Hence Jesus, after groaning again within himself, came to the memorial tomb. It was, in fact, a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said: “TAKE the stone away.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him: “Lord, by now he must smell, for it is four days.” 40 Jesus said to her: “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Therefore they took the stone away. Now Jesus raised his eyes heavenward and said: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 True, I knew that you always hear me; but on account of the crowd standing around I spoke, in order that they might believe that you sent me forth.” 43 And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice: “Laz´a·rus, come on out!” 44 The [man] that had been dead came out with his feet and hands bound with wrappings, and his countenance was bound about with a cloth. Jesus said to them: “Loose him and let him go.”

45 Therefore many of the Jews that had come to Mary and that beheld what he did put faith in him;

Please go to the following link for more information regarding the Hope expressed in this passage

http://www.watchtower.org/e/200809/article_01.htm