When Salisbury Congregational Community Church didn’t have a preacher, John Herbert would often fill in. A Navy veteran originally from the Bronx, Herbert joined the church soon after arriving in Salisbury in the 1970s and quickly assumed a leadership role.
Almost every Sunday for more than 50 years, Herbert could be spotted outside the church entrance at the Salisbury four corners.
“Whenever the doors of the church opened, John would be there,” Pastor Eric Ekholm said. “In fact, he was usually the one that would open the doors of the church.”
Herbert led in both religious and secular life, serving as Salisbury’s town moderator for nearly two decades and as its selectman during his final years. He died on June 28 from congestive heart failure and other conditions at the age of 82.
In a town of 1,500, everyone knew John Herbert. In addition to his public and church service, he helped out at Boy Scouts spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts, made baked goods for various fundraisers and attended just about every town event.
“John had a kind heart and he was a true servant,” said Ekholm, who was recruited to the church by Herbert.
Born in 1942, Herbert grew up in a middle-class family in the City Island section of the Bronx, the son of a schoolteacher and a mail carrier. As a teenager, he enlisted in the Navy, serving in active duty for four years and in the reserves for 24 years afterward.
Herbert found his way to Salisbury when he took a job at an insurance company. He immediately liked the small-town feel, according to his son, Jim Herbert.
“He didn’t want us — my sister and I — to grow up in a city,” Herbert said. “He wanted better schooling. … He didn’t want the hustle and bustle of the city.”
Herbert said his father cared so much about his children’s education that he enrolled them at Bishop Brady for high school, even though the family didn’t really have enough money to afford the private school. To offset a portion of the tuition, the elder Herbert volunteered at the school’s Bingo fundraiser every Saturday.
“I thought it was an honorable thing,” his son said. “And now that I look back at it as an adult, he sacrificed a lot of time to see us do well.”
By 1979, according to Concord Monitor archives, John Herbert had taken on responsibility at the church, shepherding it through a major expansion as building committee chairman. He went on to serve as church moderator, deacon and treasurer.
For much of his career, he worked for the state Department of Health and Human Services in an auditing and accounting role. But it was his public service that made him feel most fulfilled, according to his son.
“He really did care about that town and I think he wanted to see it do well, and I think he wanted to be a part of it,” Jim Herbert said. “Its success was important to him, and I think he wanted to contribute where he could.”
John Herbert served as town moderator from 2000 to 2018, becoming a selectman a year later. He served on the board alongside Selectman Jim Hoyt, who said he would often rely on Herbert for knowledge of the town.
“It was really good serving with him,” Hoyt said. “When I find someone that’s been around and knows more than me, I try to take what I can from him and learn some things so he definitely taught me some things.”
Herbert served as a selectman until his death, having tendered his resignation effective at the end of the month. He attended his last selectmen’s meeting in April.
In addition to his son, Herbert is survived by his daughter, Cindy Tarr and her husband Keith Tarr; John Herbert’s wife, Catherine Herbert; stepdaughter Athena Wiley; and several grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Salisbury Congregational Church, 13 Franklin Road, Salisbury.
