John M. Herndon, 71, of Caseyville, Illinois passed away Friday, July 19 ^th , 2019. He was born on January 29 ^th , 1948 in East St. Louis, Illinois to William E. and Rose E. (Wielgus) Herndon.

John is preceded in death by his parents.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia (Ebmeyer) Herndon of Caseyville, Illinois, children, Jada (Tim) Spiewak of Granite City, Illinois, Shawna Herndon of Caseyville, Illinois, and grandchildren, Payton Spiewak, Nolan Spiewak, and Addison Herndon, and his beloved dog Bootsy.

He is also survived by his dear friend Harry "Dink" Halter of Edwardsville, Illinois, and along with his Lake Kinkaid Family which grew into more of sons and daughters of his:  Bob (Cyndi) Capps of Cahokia, Doug (Renea) Daesch, Jake Daesch of Belleville, Illinois,  Todd Lehrter of O'Fallon, Illinois, and David (Tammy) Aylor of Millstadt, Illinois.

John served his country during the Vietnam War.  His law enforcement career started out in Washington Park where he became a Sergeant before transitioning to the Illinois Secretary of State Police where he retired as the Lieutenant Commander of the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force.  During his law enforcement career, he had the absolute honor of serving with the Major Case Squad and serving time with the US Secret Service where he had presidential and first lady detail.  He also served as a personal bodyguard for Former Secretary of State Alan Dixon.

He was a member of the VFW Post 1117 F.O.P. in Caseyville, Illinois.

Visitation will be Thursday, July 25 ^th , 2019 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Herr Funeral Home, Collinsville, Illinois.

Celebration of Life will be Friday, July 26 ^th , 2019 at 9:00 am at Herr Funeral Home, Collinsville.

Interment will follow in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.

In lieu of flowers monetary donations in John's honor to FCB Bank of Caseyville for the educational assistance for his three grandchildren Payton, Nolan, and Addison.

The family would like to express sincere gratitude to the following physicians and staff members of: Dr. James Wade, Dr. Hatim Mahmood, and Dr. Martinez & Dr. Dothager for keeping John alive for as long as they possibly could.  John had a long hard fought battle of pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Coronary Artery Disease and if it was not for these physicians we would have lost John a lot sooner and he would not have been able to see his oldest grandson Payton graduate from Marquette Catholic High School, or see his youngest grandson Nolan graduate 8 ^th and finally his granddaughter Addison graduate Kindergarten.