Nebraska?s Oldest Living Letterwinner Turns 104

Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

On a family farm near Wilber, Neb., Monday, there was food, fun and fireworks to honor Floyd Herman, Nebraska Athletics’ oldest living letterwinner who celebrated his 104th birthday on July 4th. Floyd’s name isn’t likely to ring a bell for even the staunchest Husker fan because he earned his letter in men’s gymnastics in 1935.

A catalyst on a start-up team that was ultimately recognized, Floyd toiled in relative obscurity. His story is a small mystery in the midst of chronicled history. Herman,104, is still sharp, smart, articulate and thrilled to see his proud, spirited family converge near Wilber to honor America’s independence in general and their father, grandfather and great grandfather in particular.

The patriarch has lived a life that makes a remarkable story, but his humility trumps every aspect of his lifetime achievements. Floyd Herman is like C.S. Lewis. He sees humility not as thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. That mindset was clear and evident when Chris Anderson, Nebraska’s associate athletic director for community, government and charitable relations, presented Herman with an honorary letter to fill the gap of his original letter N.

Floyd still has the letter sweater that he earned as a Nebraska men’s gymnast, but when one of his sons needed a sweater, he took the letter off and gave him the sweater to wear. In the 1930s, there were no team uniforms, so an enterprising Floyd provided the gym pants and asked each team member to buy similar t-shirts and sew the letter N on their own shirts to represent Nebraska. Floyd’s new plaque, hanging on his living room wall behind his favorite chair, says:

Presented to Floyd Herman

On the Fourth of July, 2016

In Honor of his 104th birthday

and in recognition of his status as a

University of Nebraska Men’s Gymnastics letterwinner in 1935

For Floyd Herman, the World Always Turns When Families Come Back Home

Appreciative to receive such an honor, Floyd remains proud of his children and their families and relishes how they continue to plan long vacations coming back to Nebraska. The world turns when they arrive to honor and show their love.

Five large bedrooms help make the visit to Nebraska a campout of sorts for all. One room even has three double beds. The family used extra air mattresses to enable 32 to sleep in Floyd’s house this year. A tent and a motel room accommodated another six.

Check the photo above with Floyd’s four living children and their spouses. At the front is Paul and Bernice Herman. Flanking Floyd (middle) are daughter Peggy and Vic Salinas (left), plus daughter Sue and Rob Linehan (right). At the very back is son Robert and wife Terry Herman.

Son Don Herman fell off a ladder and died four years ago at 75. He was a Navy pilot just like his surviving brothers Paul and Robert. All three sons earned Regents Scholarships and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. So did daughter Peggy, who also earned a Regents Scholarship. Daughter Sue graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, giving five siblings a clean sweep while following in their dad’s footsteps.

Four UNL Master's Degrees, Four Regents Scholarships, Five College Diplomas

Four of Floyd’s five children earned Master’s degrees. It was a tribute to their dad, who believed that education was never a misuse of effort. Floyd also felt strongly that a degree does not guarantee a person anything and does not qualify anyone as well educated.

The timeliness of their universal success deserves an influential footnote. Because of the Great Depression, once Floyd earned his bachelor’s degree in education, he and his late wife Evelyn moved to California, the home state of their first three children.

Those roots explain why Floyd’s two living sons and two living daughters have been making lengthy annual treks to Nebraska from their homes since they celebrated their parents’ 65th wedding anniversary 15 years ago.

In the photo above, the Herman family tree widens and makes for an exciting annual reunion that specializes in combining their homegrown fireworks display with a polka dance that invites everyone to participate.

Floyd's Deep Roots in Sokol Enabled Him to Represent USA in Czech Republic

“This is the 16th straight year that everyone, including the grandkids, come to Wilber to celebrate,” daughter Peggy said. “We live in California, Texas, Florida and Virginia, and this is a big deal for everyone. Everybody has so much fun. Most of the grandchildren live in cities, so they love coming back to the farm where they can spend a good part of the summer, buy fireworks and do things you can’t do at home.

“The Fourth of July is perfect for all of us, not just dad,” Peggy said. “Everyone comes because we’re always doing something fun. There are no electronics. No one watches TV and most of the cell phones don’t work out here, even though we’re only three miles from Wilber. When four generations get together and play games, it’s so heart-warming to watch.”

Living on the farm that he built, Floyd copes with a mobility handicap, but remains in constant contact with his children and welcomes the families with open arms when they arrive at the family farm. Floyd’s tractor lawn mower provides instant access to the outside yard area and is the only way he can get around the farm. Even though walking and balance are difficult, Floyd’s health is actually better this year than it was the last two years. His children marvel at how he manages to get stronger as he gets older.

Born in 1912, Floyd Herman still has a photographic memory at the tender young age of 104. In high school at Wilber, he played basketball. He also high jumped and threw the javelin in track and field. In between his high school and collegiate athletic career, Floyd was among 3,000 participants – 1,500 men and 1,500 women – representing the USA in the Sokol competition in Prague, the Capital of the Czech Republic and a popular European city that sent thousands of Bohemians to places like Nebraska.

Floyd Carried USA Flag in Prague, Has Grandson Who 'Breathes' the Huskers

Floyd’s sense of humor matches his humility. His daughters forced him to admit that he was the man carrying the USA flag in a Prague photo above and one of 3,000 USA representatives below. “The only reason I carried the flag was because I was the youngest one there,” he said.

Floyd has never been much of a football fan, so he stays humble about his honorary letter. “Football has always driven the athletic department, and it still does,” he pointed out, acknowledging that he has a grandson who lives in Houston and “breathes” Nebraska football on a daily basis. Floyd enjoys talking about the games with grandson Steven whenever he calls. 

The birth of Nebraska men’s gymnastics was mostly uneventful. “Five of us (fellow UNL students) were interested in gymnastics, so we kept working out,” Floyd said. “An academic instructor we had got interested as well, so he ended up taking us to Colorado to compete in four meets in three days. We did well in all four, so after we came back, the university decided to recognize us as a part of Nebraska Athletics.” 

The decision was that simple, and the impetus was Sokol, a Slavic word for falcon that became a movement in an all-age gymnastics organization founded in the Czech region of Prague. “Sokol’s principle was having a strong mind and a strong body, but it wasn’t just for gymnastics,” Floyd said. “They organized a gymnastics situation so they could rise up in a civil war to stop what the dictatorship was doing. The idea was that gymnasts became a way of training militia without anyone knowing about it.” 

How Full is Floyd’s Bucket? Full Enough to Live a Wonderful Life on the Farm

Floyd can move from serious to funny between simple questions. Asked about his thoughts that Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst signed a book entitled How Full is Your Bucket List to go with his honorary letter, Floyd grinned broadly. “My bucket is definitely full,” he said with a wide grin. “I’ve lived a wonderful life and enjoyed all my experiences. I was fortunate enough to be on a Sokol team from Nebraska that went to Prague. We took a boat to get there and trained for two months. Sokol isn’t just gymnastics. It’s all athletics, including pole vaulting and sprints. We ended up with a gold medal.”

Beginning gymnastics training at age seven or eight, Floyd said he was interested in developing both mind and body. "Gymnastics depends on two scientific ideas – centrifugal force and leverage," he said. "I was well trained in every exercise and applied what I learned. I could transform what I knew from a scientific script and leverage what I needed to do.”

Health was a factor in Floyd’s athletic accomplishments. “My mother was 102 when she passed away,” he said. “She was sharp and a great homemaker. I know people are making a lot of me being 104, but I’m only a year-and-a-half older than my mother was.”

Who knows? Maybe it was a steady diet of still rings, flying rings, flying cross, parallel bars, horizontal bars, side-horse or floor exercise that increased Floyd’s stamina. “Doctors say I have the heart of a 20-year-old,” he said. “My daughter thinks I can be put on a donor list. I don’t know how to explain it. I was never as strong as some of the other guys, but I had and still have great lung capacity. When doctors listen to my lungs, they tell me they have 20-percent more capacity than most young people. I don’t know why they told me that, but it was three years ago.”

Great Depression Forced Floyd into Singing, Entertaining to Pay Family’s Bills

Floyd (above working in the entertainment industry) got into vaudeville and became both a singer and an emcee to earn money to help his family during the depression. “I spent 2½ years in my 30s trying to make money to feed and care for my family,” he said. “Those were the days when movies were in, and we used vaudeville to draw people into buying candy and popcorn.”

Floyd was masterful when he’d open his big lungs and sing Oklahoma or Old Man River. “I auditioned in Hollywood for road shows that went all the way to Florida,” Floyd said. “When we lived on the West Coast, I was really interested. I sang a song and the lady who was auditioning me had tears in her eyes. She sent me to New York City to make my mark and apply for the lead in Oklahoma on Broadway."

Unfortunately, Floyd caught a major cold on the train. The heat quit while crossing the great plains in his home state, causing Floyd to lose his voice. Because of that, he didn’t get the part and his agent found work in Florida, giving Floyd the opportunity to convalesce in warm weather. Because of a hurricane, as luck would have it, the place he was scheduled to perform lost its lights and electricity for five days. Undaunted, because he had a deep voice that reminded people of Nelson Eddy or Lawrence Tibbett, Floyd used his extraordinary lung capacity to sing his favorite songs without a microphone, both inside and outside the entertainment venue.

When that’s the only thing you can do during a deep depression, you do it. Vaudeville paid the bills and time marched on. A brainy student who liked physics ended up graduating from Nebraska’s Teachers’ College. Eventually, despite an arsenal of skill sets, Floyd decided to return home and farm in the same area that he grew up. He was in his late 30’s. A tried and true renaissance man with a clear head and a happy family, not to mention a healthy heart and fond memories, Floyd Herman, 104, basically has no regrets in his life, and we all should be so lucky.

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