December 13, 1931 — July 3, 2023
Former longtime resident of Ashland, Dr. C. Herschel (Hersch) King died on the full moon of July 3 of complications from Parkinson’s disease.
Born Dec. 13, 1931, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, Hersch grew up in Portsmouth, Virginai, and in 1956 was graduated from the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, specializing in anesthesia, practicing mostly at Peninsula General Hospital (now Tidal Health Peninsula Regional) Salisbury, Maryland.
Retiring in 1987, he and his second wife, Liz Vesecky, enjoyed the cruising lifestyle aboard their 36-foot sloop “Satori” on the south coast of England, the Biscay coasts of Spain and Portugal and the British and American Virgin Islands, before heading back to the Chesapeake Bay via Bermuda.
After his diagnosis of Parkinson’s in 1988, he and Liz headed west, settling in Ashland for 24 years, where they explored and camped the west coast.
In testimony to his civic commitments, he served on the Coalition to Improve Air Quality, Sierra Club (Executive Committee, Rogue Chapter), Ashland Citizens Committee on Air Quality, as well as precinct-10 committee person for the Democratic Party and as board member of the ACLU.
Hersch enjoyed attending SOLIR classes, studying ceramic sculpting under Wataru Sugyama, constructing N-gauge model train layouts, more travel and, above all, reading.
In 2015, he and Liz, along with stepson and eventual caregiver Franklin Wilkerson, moved to upcountry Maui. Hersch is also survived by his daughter Elizabeth Rhodes, son Dan King, grandchildren Garrett, Quinn and Holland — and the many friends who will miss his keen intellect and joy of life.
He wished that any memorial contributions be made to OHSU, Department of Neurology, in honor of Dr. John Nutt, who monitored his Parkinson’s for so many years.
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