
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 27, 1995                   TAG: 9507270030
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ADRIANNE BEE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

AWARD-WINNING VOLUNTEER BELIEVES COMMUNITY SERVICE IS A PART OF LIFE

People in the community can breathe easier when they know their friends and\ neighbors really care about their health. Meet Thomas W. Herrmann, recipient\ of the American Lung Association of Virginia's highest honor for volunteer service, The Douglas Southall Freeman Award.

"It is a great honor for Thomas to receive this award," said his wife, Lou Herrmann. "He has put in a long number of years of service."

Lou Herrmann says her husband is modest. "You wouldn't be able to get much information about his service from him," she said. "It's hard even for me to get anything out of him."

Is her husband a warm-hearted kind of guy? "Oh, he'd blush if you put that in, but he really is," she says. "He's an individual who believes community service is a part of life, nothing magnanimous on his part, just the way things should be."

Ted Glickman, the association's public information officer, said the award "is for folks who have made extraordinary contributions to lung health." It was established in 1953 to honor Virginia author Douglas Southall Freeman for service to the then Virginia Tuberculosis Association.

Herrmann's involvement began years ago when his father was treasurer of the association, Herrmann said. "I've grown up with it."

A member of the lung association's board of directors for 18 years, Herrmann serves as the state treasurer. He is retired from banking after 39 years as an officer with NationsBank in Richmond.

"I have always been interested in programs for clean air, healthy lungs and fighting cancer, along with civic activities," Herrmann said.

The Herrmanns retired to Blacksburg to be with their son, John, a former Tech student, and his wife, Pamela.

He is the 42nd recipient of the Freeman award.

by CNB