Mary L. Herman

Mary L. Rifenberg Herman, 74, died peacefully October 2, 2021, in the Hospice Care unit of St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington, attended by her husband. She was born in Chicago and adopted by Eugene (Bud) and Ruth Rifenberg of Niles, MI. She began playing the piano in elementary school and the French horn in junior high school, beginning a life-long passion for performing music.
She studied elementary education at Adrian College (MI), and in the three-minors curriculum popular at that time (1966-69), her principal minor was music. In 1973 she completed a Master’s of Arts in Teaching of Reading at Western Michigan University. She married Douglas E. Herman on June 26, 1971, and they recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Before their marriage, she began six years of teaching in elementary schools in Michigan and Ohio. After her husband began his college teaching career, she taught numerous education and developmental studies classes on a part-time basis at Missouri Baptist College and Prestonsburg Community College/Big Sandy Community and Technical College in eastern Kentucky. After he retired in 2014, they moved to Wesley Village in Wilmore the next year. She was a member of Southern Hills United Methodist Church in Lexington, where she sang in the Chancel Choir and played in the Handbell Choir, her particular musical love after she learned to play the instruments in Oneonta, NY. She was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband; a twin sister, Martha Baez, of Ft. Myers, FL; a brother and sister-in-law, Paul (Karen) Rifenberg of Niles, MI; two brothers-in-law—Glen (Jane) Herman of Pulaski, VA, and Bruce (Lisa) Herman of Newnan, GA; and numerous nephews and nieces. A funeral will be held on October 30 at 1:00 pm in the church and a graveside service on November 21 in Lima, OH. Donations in her memory may be made to the church or Wesley Village. Betts & West Funeral Home is honored to serve the Herman family. Online guestbook at www.BettsandWestfuneralhome.com.