The Rev. Dr. Jackson Paul Hershbell, 89, of Lexington, died peacefully, of advanced prostate cancer, with his wife, Anne, by his side, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024.

“Heimgeganen in Ewigkeit” (translation: “gone home to eternity”) … the German phrase reflects some of Jack's (as he was known to family and friends) interest and love for the German language and culture. He was born in 1935 to the late Betty and Paul Hershbell in Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch) country in Northampton, Pa., where a German dialect was still spoken and written.  

Jack's higher education began in 1951 when he had, at age 15, a four-year fellowship at Lafayette College where he and other students were studied by the Ford Foundation to see if they could graduate before being inducted in the armed forces as officers. It was the time of the Korean War. Jack was rejected by the armed forces because of physical limitations. 

He went on for an M.A. at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. at Harvard University (1964) in classics and philosophy (he had always been interested in Latin and Greek). While pursuing his Ph.D., he also studied at General Theological Seminary, Manhattan, and graduated from there first, in 1963, with an S.T.B. degree (later renamed an M. Div.). 

Following seminary, Jack was ordained to the priesthood (Episcopal) and briefly worked full-time in ministry. After three years he felt the call to academia and taught at the University of Minnesota for most of his career, while also working part-time as an Episcopal priest in various parishes in the Diocese of Minnesota.   

In l975-76 he was a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung in Munich. He had a life-long love for Germany, and was able to visit many times (as well as Austria) and maintained deep friendships with several people there. He later had a fellowship at Hatfield College, University of Durham, England, setting off a love with Anne for the Yorkshire Dales, especially Wensleydale and Swaledale.

After many years together in Minneapolis, Jack and Anne moved to Lexington at the time of Jack’s retirement. They were seeking a warmer climate, more sense of history, mountains, and a small academic community. Jack continued his part-time ministry for many years at several parishes in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.

Jack says: “Further remembering my work in Academia and Ecclesia would serve nothing to raise me from the dead. And I do not expect to play a harp in some celestial realm. But I wish that you will fare well in this life of joy and sorrow, a life of goodbyes and hellos, God be with you.”

Jack was preceded in death by his parents and his younger siblings, Anita Hershbell and David Hershbell.

Surviving are his wife, Anne Snyder Hershbell (of Lexington); children Kenneth Hershbell (Jewel Shim, Lafayette, Calif.) and Kristin Hershbell Charles (Graham, Moss Beach, Calif.); grandchildren Carys, Maximillian and Alexander Hershbell, and Fern and Claudia Charles; sister-in-law Charlene Hershbell; nephew Scott Hershbell; and great-niece Lauren Hershbell.  

The family wants to give special thanks to caregivers JoAnn Clements and Kat Sorrells who lovingly supported Jack for so many years, as well as the staff at Connections Plus Health & Hospice, especially Lauren Potter, RN, Vickie Kave, LCSW, and Pamela White, chaplain.

A memorial service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, Lexington, on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m., officiated by the Rev. Tucker Bowerfind and the Rev. James Hubbard. The family will receive friends at a reception in the parish hall, immediately following.  

Memorial donations are encouraged to the Guiding Eyes for the Blind, www.guidingeyes.org, 611 Granite Springs Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598; or to any animal-related cause such as your local Humane Society, or SPCA, or to the Society for the Increase of the Ministry (which funds scholarships for Episcopal seminarians), www.simministry.org, P.O. Box 21557, New York, NY 10087-1557.  

Arrangements are by Harrison Funeral Home and Crematory.