Lillian Mae Molkentin Herriot
Help us celebrate Lillian! Please share your stories and photos, and invite others who remember Lillian.
Lillian M. Herriot of Payson, Arizona, beloved daughter, wife, mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully on July 23, 2021 at Powell Place Senior Living facility in Payson, in the presence of her husband Howard and son Mark.
Lillian was born on January 26, 1928 to Theodore and Florence Molkentin in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. She attended elementary school in Hales Corners, and Solomon Juneau High School in Milwaukee. Following high school, Lillian attended Mount Mary University, also in Milwaukee, from which she graduated in 1949 with a major in English Literature.
Lillian's first job after graduation was teaching English literature and grammar at Adams-Friendship High School in Adams, Wisconsin. Shortly after starting her duties as a teacher, she was introduced, by the Adams-Friendship High School football coach, to Howard M. Herriot, a native of Adams. Lillian and Howard were married on June 16, 1951. They recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
Following their marriage, Lillian taught English at Middleton High School in Middleton, Wisconsin, while Howard completed his studies at the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison. Lillian and Howard lived in West Allis, Wisconsin from 1952 until 1955, while Howard worked as a patent attorney for Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Corporation and Lillian worked as an administrative assistant at General Electric Company.
Lillian and Howard moved to Janesville, Wisconsin in 1955 and resided there until 2016 when they relocated to Payson, Arizona. Howard was employed as legal counsel and patent attorney for the Parker Pen Company until his retirement in 1986. During this time Lillian devoted herself to raising the couple's three children, Mark, Christine and Richard. In addition, throughout her time in Janesville, Lillian was an active member of the Janesville Country Club, Janesville Women's Club, and the Janesville chapters of the Young Women's Christian Association, the American Association of University Women, the Y's-menette Club, and the PEO Sisterhood. Lillian also spent many happy hours volunteering at Janesville's Rotary Gardens. She and Howard made many treasured and long-lasting friendships through these organizations. Lillian enjoyed bridge, entertaining friends and family in her home, and flower gardening. She was an expert hostess and cook.
Lillian was predeceased by her parents, her sister Dorothy Fischer, her daughter Christine and her son Richard. She is survived by her husband Howard of Payson, son Mark of Phoenix, and four grandchildren, Katherine, of Omaha, Nebraska, Allison, of Geneva, Illinois, William of Studio City, California, and Elizabeth, also of Omaha, Nebraska, as well as several nieces and nephews.
Lillian was a long-time member of First Lutheran Church of Janesville, Wisconsin and more recently a member of Ascension Lutheran Church of Paradise Valley, Arizona.
A celebration of Lillian's life will be held in the near future at Powell Place Senior Living facility in Payson. Lillian's remains will be interred in a private ceremony at Oak Hill Cemetery in Janesville, Wisconsin. Funeral arrangements will be entrusted to Messinger Payson Funeral Home in Payson, Arizona, and Schneider Funeral Home in Janesville, Wisconsin. In lieu of flowers, Lillian's family suggests that contributions be made in Lillian's memory to the University of Wisconsin Cancer Center and/or the Alzheimer's Association.
Lillian's family wishes to thank the staffs of Compassus Hospice and Powell Place Senior Living center for their loving and tireless care of Lillian.