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| Dr. John Hermann |
Dr. Hermann, 53, an Inkster resident, was killed in Van Buren Township Dec. 4 when his vehicle crossed the center line and struck another car. Dr. Hermann owned a mobile vet clinic based in Westland. He traveled throughout the area making "house calls" providing care to beloved pets and animals. A 1993 graduate of the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, he often said the mobile clinic helped him reach and help as many people as possible.
Dr. Hermann was born in Royal Oak on June 14,1969 and his family moved to Pennsylvania in 1981. After his graduation with honors from Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem, PA he entered the veterinary school of medicine at Michigan State as a junior where he completed the eight-year course in six years.
He then began his career with the Kershaw Animal Hospital before opening the mobile clinic with his long-time assistant, Heather Doud, and 28 employees.For more than 30 years, Dr. Hermann's mobile veterinary van practiced throughout the area, often visiting Tractor Supply, pet stores and pet grooming facilities to offer low-cost medical help for animals. He treated both domestic pets and farm animals and was well-known to many small farmers in the area. Dr. Hermann was generous with his time and donations and treated animals at the Romulus, Trenton, Woodhaven, Taylor and Trenton shelters. He participated in 4H, rescue animals and community pet vaccination drives, earning him countless awards for his voluntary work. His family said he would always send one of his team to receive the award to avoid publicity.
Dr. Hermann had a deep, intrinsic love of animals, his family said, and was once caught with baby chicks he had hatched in his bedroom. He studied to become a stockbroker in his time away from his veterinary practice and eventually turned into real estate and home rentals, buying homes in his community. Dr. Hermann was also an avid gardener and won several blue ribbons from the Snipes Garden Center for his vegetables. The side lot of his Inkster home became a vegetable garden, and he purchased a lot across the street to enlarge his garden. He gave the vegetables to friends and neighbors who repaid him with samples of the canned produce.
His family said Dr. Hermann's gregarious nature and laugh were contagious.
Among his survivors are his parents, John and Barbara Hermann of Yardley, PA; his brothers, Dr. Jeffrey Hermann, Hummelstown, PA and Michael Hermann (Maria) of Collegeville, PA and their three children, Andrew, Alex and Matthew, and a host of family members.
In a special remembrance, the quilt covering Dr. Hermann's coffin was one he commissioned of St. Francis of Assisi appearing with animals. The quilt was blessed with holy water from Assisi. Dr. Hermann had planned to display the work in his office.
In lieu of flowers, Dr. Hermann had several charities he supported, including: :
Holy Ghost Preparatory School, 2429 Bristol Pike, Bensalem, PA 19020, Phone: (215) 639-2102 https://www.holyghostprep.org/; St. Michael the Archangel Church, 11441 Hubbard Livonia, MI, 48150 Phone: (734) 261-1455; Bed Bark & Beyond Animal Rescue https://bbbanimalrescue.com/; Romulus Animal Shelter
Taylor Animal Shelter https://www.cityoftaylor.com/220/Animal-Shelter; Monroe Animal Shelter; Woodhaven Trenton Animal; Shelter https://www.woodhavenmi.org/departments/animal_control/animal_shelter_-_adoptable_pets.php
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to the Griffin Funeral Home.
