Alum Couple Who Met Under the Pines Memorialized through Scholarship Fund

In memory of their parents, who met while students under the pines, the children of Lee and Nancy Herrington, both Class of 1952, have established a scholarship fund.

Dr. Lee Pierce Herrington and Nancy Tripp Herrington passed away within seven months of one another earlier this year – Nancy in February and Lee in September. Both had remained connected with their alma mater and classmates over the years. Nancy served as a reunion chair for her classes’ 50^th reunion in 2002, which both Nancy and Lee attended having traveled from their home base in Syracuse, N.Y.

The Lee and Nancy Herrington 1952 Scholarship Fund provides financial support to students who otherwise would not be able to afford a Hamden Hall education. According to their children, both Nancy and Lee were “grateful recipients of a scholarship” while enrolled at Hamden Hall.

The couple began dating their senior year and attended the prom together. They married Dec. 16, 1955, after Lee returned from Korea having served in the United States Army. Following her Hamden Hall years, “Nan,” as her classmates called her, continued her education at Colby-Sawyer College and later at Syracuse University. Ultimately Nancy earned three degrees: an associate degree, a Bachelor of Science in education, and a Master of Arts in information studies.

Lee also earned three academic degrees: a bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of Maine and from Yale University both a master’s degree in tree physiology and a Ph.D. in forest meteorology. Ultimately, Lee was named a Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY – The State University of New York – where he worked in the College of Environmental Science and Forestry since 1965. He was a professor of information resources management and director of the Laboratory for Applied Geographic Information Systems.

Lee was a pioneer in GIS technology and was one of the founders of the New York State Geographic Information Systems conference. He was also the creator of a wind-measuring device called the driven anemometer, for which he earned a patent.

Nancy served for many years as a science librarian at Syracuse University’s Science and Technology Library. Upon her retirement, she was a reviewer of scholarly articles for College and Undergraduate Libraries Journal.

The couple resided in Syracuse for 55 years. Their getaway was in the Adirondacks, where they built their vacation home called “Pieces” in Indian Lake. Lee and Nancy literally built the A-Frame residence from a kit as Lee was a skilled craftsman. Both Lee and Nancy enjoyed skiing, whitewater rafting, canoeing, sailing, and Syracuse basketball games. Lee was a Ham radio buff while Nancy was an avid crossword puzzler and wordsmith.

Lee and Nancy are survived by sons Matthew, and wife Shannon; Bradford, and wife Debbie; and daughter Susan and her husband Dominic. They also leave behind seven grandchildren and were predeceased in 2013 by their son Wayne.