From Debster's Dictionary (1st Edition) 2001

Donald Arthur Herzog:Don, aka Donny, dad, daddy, poppy (noun): everybody's favorite, kind, gentle, funny, silly, corny. Teacher (at least one of us learned to love nature, hiking camping, skiing, scuba-diving); preacher, circa 1979, (to his then single 24 year-old daughter) ("ahem, (cough, cough), if I were single right now I would be very concerned about herpes"); preacher, circa 1999, (to his then single 44 year-old daughter and teenage son) ("ahem, (cough, cough), if I were single right now I would be very concerned about aids"); (adj.) nurturing (successfully encouraged his offspring to follow their dreams); patient; (waited for them to get there, still waiting for some of them!); handsome (to the point that he stunned eldest daughter's loquacious best friend into silence upon their first meeting); inspirational (eldest has been moved to say that she just hopes her son grows up to be even half the man his poppy is); diplomatic (has each of his children believing we are each always right and loved the most); forgiving (didn't yell when eldest killed his piranha by feeding it chocolate chip cookie crumbs). Loved immensely by daughter Debbie and grandson David who wish him the happiest of birthdays and are proud to be of his pedigree!

Love,
Deb

Dear Dad,
It's hard not to brag, it's hard not to boast
About the greatest Dad on any coast!
I've known you for 45 of your 70 years on this earth
And my heart's been with you since the day of my birth.

I think back in time, and we go back quite a while,
So many good times, I just have to smile.
You were always around for weekend fun,
Hiking, biking and the beach and the sun.

You took us ice -skating and apple-picking, to the park and the zoo,
It was such a blast just hanging out with you!
On Sundays I'd pretend to like football just so,
I could cuddle with you and see the halftime show.

You taught me to swim, you taught me to dive,
And with tremendous courage and patience, you taught me to drive.
You also taught me that it's best to be
Like no one else-just who I am-free to be me.

When I was small and feeling under the weather,
You brought me Colorforms and Disney Tinykins to make me feel better.
But really what made my little face light up so bright
Was just having you walk in through our door each night.

And when I was a teen and life was confusing,
You could always be silly--you are so amusing!
My girlfriends had crushes on you-no big surprise,
But the guys were wary of those crystal blue eyes.

Whenever I needed sage advice, or merely a safe haven,
You always had such great insight-always a maven.
Then I went off to college, and you were single, too,
And you were asking ME about dating and what you should do.

Now with six kids and eight grandchildren you have been blessed,
It's funny how life goes-who'd have ever guessed?
There's so much to celebrate-you get the gist,
And I'm thrilled to add this big birthday to the long, long list.

I wish you the happiest day and many, many more healthy and happy years.

With love,
Janie

Happy Birthday Dad!

In lieu of a witty poem ( I could never compete with you there)...I've decided to take an MTV style...quick cut ...flashback through the ages....
So..."Roundy roundy...it's been a big 70 years...here goes
We start on 33rd St. in Paterson:
I hear you whistling when you get home
Bobo ........ I was scared shitless of him, and most of the other oversized canines you seemed to favor. Maybe "little" Poochie wasn't an accident.
Tinykins/Disneykins....you would bring them home for me...and I loved them.
I'd be rich if I had 'em today...as they are hot collector items.
I also remember trips to FreedomLand...Central Park...that little amusement park near us in Jersey...long rides to the farm.....getting lost at Palisades Park.... taking my socks off before i washed em....and wondering if
"Butch" referred to the Kohlreiter dog..the tough kid on "Our Gang/Little Rascals"...or my future sexual orientation. on to 37th St.......
I remember our first Christmas there right after we moved in...you set up a race car track. in our then empty sun room.
Our trip to Canton Ohio and the football Hall of Fame
Many...many night with your sleeves rolled up and hands deep in a fish tank...and those funny little tropical fish magazines that you subscribed to.
Birds, monkeys,rabbits,cats,guinea pigs, and some very unlucky hamsters.
Planters peanuts, tomato juice, mallomars, peanut chews, homemade milkshakes,and your coffee every night as we watched the Viet Nam War as reported by Walter Cronkite and Huntley/Brinkley.
Lively dinner table debates..about civil rights.... marijuana...mom's liver....and what movies were appropriate for Deb and Jane. (And burning my hand with the coffee spoon)
Wrestling in the living room ("watch out for the glass table") where I always lost and ended up crying. By the way I also remember the glass table breaking under the weight of your giant fish tank one night while you were out.
The New York Post (pre Rupert) you brought home every night, whose sports page I devoured immediately on the front steps. ("Don’t slide down the banister")
I remember discovering your Playboy magazines in the cabinet by your bed, and later on the holy grail of several years of back issues in the attic. Thank God you saved those and not your tropical fish magazines!
Your handkerchiefs..., which I took the liberty of decorating with psychedelic designs one day.
Making the rounds of the Paterson parking lots...making sure no one had their hand in the till.
Sunday pilgrimages to Yankee Stadium.... looking for parking...watching sandlot football...eating roast beef sandwiches with uncle Jules...the smell of cigar smoke, stale beer....and the glorious sight of the bright green, sun drenched field....while we froze our fucking asses off....and of course left early.
Teaching me to ride a bike...I think it took six months!
Staring at you blankly as you explain to me for the umpteenth time what a 2nd mortgage is.
Watching a lot of football in the den...followed by Chinese food..spaghetti...or pizza.
The Paterson Armory...where I dragged you to pro wrestling matches in the kindler gentler days before Vince McMahon.(Bruno! Bruno!) Later on you also endured Wrestling at Madison Square Garden with my pal Hugo....Roller Derby....Indoor track meets...a WHA hockey team who went out of business mid season...a wild night of Brazilian soccer in the Bronx (with superstar Pele!)...ABA doubleheaders....many great Knick games in Poppy Al's seats. (Including the now famous game 5 in 1970 when they rallied from back from over 20 points to beat the dreaded Lakers)
Driving into the city a week later to watch them play game 7 live on the then brand new technology known as cable TV at Dearies apartment!
There were memorable trips to West Point, Bear Mountain New York City, Syracuse.
Vacations at the at the Jersey Shore...
Great games of hide and seek in our house...you turning out the lights...scaring the hell out of us.
That beautiful Cutlass....maybe the only car I ever loved.
Johnny and Hanges....Teddy's...Carvel....Howard Johnson's (clam rolls and ice cream sodas with extra chocolate please.)
Later on.. Sleepovers in Fort Lee. Racing into the city to see the latest Clint Eastwood, or Charles Bronson flick. Maybe some Goldberg’s Pizza after.
Biking to the Giant games in New Haven.
Still later on...that great bachelor pad in Newport. What a time we had when I visited with all the boys. I think most of that trip isn't suitable for family reading! And how about that "all you can eat " meal?
Our trip to San Francisco to check out colleges.
Your trips to Boston and great sea food meals
The Super Bowl in Pasadena
The great parties you hosted on various west coast birthdays (including the x rated cake!)
Checking out all the babes on the beach (a time honored tradition that continues even today)
Weddings...births...good times and bad. We sure had some.
But all I really wanted to say is that I love you dearly. You've always been there for me. With advice ...encouragement...and support. You instilled me with so many things I hold dear. You are truly part of me. I think you're pretty good at a lot of things...but being a great Dad came so effortlessly to you. Now that I'm a father myself, I see it's a lot harder than it looks. You've set a pretty high standard for all of us to follow. And, I hope I mean as much to my kids as you do to me.

Thanks for everything Dad...I love you.
Here's to many, many more memories.......
oxox
Doug

Dear Dad

Let's ponder what life might have been like for me if you were not my Dad...well I wouldn't know how to skip, dive, or ride a two wheeler. I would use pledge to clean smoking pipes instead of the side of my nose. I might have never had big boobs (and then not) if it weren't for Little Annie Fannie...I wouldn't know the difference between a coy and gold fish, I wouldn't have perfect feet, or this uncontrollable desire to collect things ... the beach wouldn't hold such a special place in my heart and shells and driftwood would be just that! My children would go to bed like all others without the safety and love of "roundy roundy" ...I would have no pictures, movies or memories of my childhood or our family ...I might have never seen a parade,..... a movie of a parade ...or pictures of a parade, or a zoo, or a museum or monument. I might have fewer wrinkles due to sun exposure, I would have been lost a million times without your whistle, my gold fish would have died a thousand deaths, I wouldn't love animals... rodents, newts, turtles, monkeys, birds, dogs, cats as I do...I would not have a chocolate problem, or an ice cream addiction (god forbid!)

I have so many things to say (as if that was unusual..) I think what most sticks out in my mind when I think of you is that each one of us swears we are your favorite child. That in of itself is quite remarkable with the distance that has separated us for more than 20 years.You and I have a very open honest relationship even if it is tad unconventional. But, I guess that's what I like best about it.

Wow, 70 years! You have really lived two lives. One with Mom and one with Bonnie (and Mom!). Bonnie deserves a rebate! Anyway, when I take a minute to think, really think about you and me and our history and my memories I have a hard time trying to separate the memories from pictures and the memories I have all on my own. I do however have so many clear memories that bring me right back to37th street and that most fabulous house ....Below is my stream of consciousness memory list...

Clam strips at Howard Johnson's
Ice cream sodas
"Don't forget to take your socks off before you wash them"
The "house appraisal" look
Holding hands (puppy pads)
Learning to ride a two wheeler (before Doug!)
Hide and Go seek and your witchy laugh
Comparing toes, pulling out wild eyebrows
Outings to the zoo, the park, Statue of Liberty
Bringing you tall glasses of water with ice
Your little finger pushing around the peanuts
Your greasy chin after a roast beef dinner
Your special crock pot bowl for chicken soup
Our pets including the rodents and aqua life I got each week at the petstore
The stuffed animals you would bring home if I was sick
The police radio
The ambulance chases
The Cutlass convertible
Your "lap" face in the pool
Getting Doug with the hot spoon
Dad's chair
Dozens of blue shirts and brown socks
Holding the bottom of your legs so you couldn't get away
Jitterbugging
Worms
Siphons
Mopsy and flopsy
Goldie and your signature hand drawn illustration on my letters
Fish and more Fish....
Playboy

In a "large" way you have made my life so filled with promise and love. I have always celebrated being your little girl (Catherine-- a title I loving share with you) and I hope I am and will always be a loving supportive influence in my children's lives as you have been in mine. You are a great Daddy and I love you dearly. Happy 70th birthday

Love Your
Jillie Bum

Before meeting Don, I had developed an image of him based on Jillie's childhood stories. As a result, I learned that he was:

1 part Dr. Doolittle -- talking to dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, gerbils, monkeys, and any number of other creatures in the Herzog home.

1 part Serpico -- fearless public servant fighting corruption at every level of the Paterson parking commission.

1 part Jimmy Stewart from "It's a Wonderful Life" -- maybe not running the local Savings & Loan exactly, but with Bobo the police dog by his side, at least cashing checks for the local citizenry.

1 part Warner Brothers -- inventing the first-ever movies with sound!... (Well, at least of his family.)

1 part Hugh Hefner -- the Playboy Magazines "hidden" in his bedside table.

And equal parts Jacques Cousteau & Bob Villa -- constructing (what was it?) 200, 300, 400 fish tanks in every nook and cranny of their house!?

When I finally met him, though, it wasn't any of these things that impressed me most about Don; it was something else Jillie had told me: that her Dad possessed a remarkable gift for making each person he knew feel that they alone were the most important, most special person in his life -- without ever making anyone feel slighted. She told me, for instance, that she always knew growing up that she was Don's favorite -- and then, as an adult, she found out that Debbie, Jane, and Doug each felt that way, too.

And, when I finally met Don, I understood why they all felt that way -- because I could feel it, too. He is true and honest and caring; he is thoughtful and sincere; and he embraces each person he knows with a feeling of warmth and love that is unique unto them. He connects with each person in ways that make them feel special -- whether as father, husband, or friend.

I am so pleased, and feel so fortunate, to have you as my father-in-law, Don! Happy Birthday to you on this milestone occasion -- and thank you for always making me feel a part of your family.

I love you,
Dick

Dad,

Hey dad I just wanted to wish you a very happy Birthday. You mean so much to me. We havent had alot of time to spend together lately since I have been at college, but whenever I come home, the little time that we do spend together means a lot. You have really helped me grow in these past few years and have taught me some invaluable lessons which I will carry with me through the rest of my life. Thank you so much for always being there and always supporting me. I hope you have a wonderful Birthday.

Your son,
Brad

Happy seventieth dad!!!!!!!!!!

~Daddy~

Well, can you believe that seventy years are already up?!?!?!?!?! You don't even understand how much you have meant to me all my life!!!!! I don't know what life would have been like if you weren't my Dad. You have taught me so much,and I love you more then anything in the world.I have always looked up to you, and always thought of you as my role model.You are so brave and wonderful.Your the most caring person I know, and it's so great that I can talk to you about practically anything, and have a close relationship with you.You are always there for me to make me laugh when I am sad.You have such a cheerful, strong heart, and personality.I hope that when I grow up I can be just like you. Because you are so unique in everyway, and you are exactly what I hope to be when I get older.Every good thing about me, is because you.You mean so much to me, and I think of myself as the luckiest girl in the world to have you as MY dad, thank you for everything.I could have never made it in life without you.I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Luv ya,
Catherine