God blessed Herman Douglas Banks with the longevity of 73 years on this earth.  That gift concluded May 11, 2022.  He was blessed with two loving parents, the late Mr. William S. Banks, Sr. and the late Laura Griffin Banks, who died in 1977 and 2014 respectively.  The blessings continued with the birth of his two older siblings; an older sister-Baby Banks, who died at birth in 1946 and the late Mr. William S. Banks, Jr.-an older brother, who died in 2004.  Herman was the third and last born, making his debut on Thursday, June 23, 1949.

It was in the community of Truxtun, Portsmouth, Virginia, where Herman spent his early years, living next door to his grandmother, the late Mrs. Laura Thornton Griffin, who died in 1972.  Like many others in Truxtun and the adjacent community, he became a member of Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in conjunction with his baptism during early childhood.  He attended Truxtun Elementary and later, when his parents moved to the Pughsville Community of North Suffolk, he attended the public schools of Suffolk and Chesapeake, Virginia.  He continued his studies locally at the community college and at Norfolk State University, Norfolk, Virginia.

One of Herman’s earliest passions was learning to play the piano.  About the time he started first grade, he began lessons.  After several years, he was given opportunities to show off his talent at neighborhood concerts.  Lessons and concerts continued until junior high (middle school) when his interest in music expanded and he enrolled in a trumpet class during the summer school session preceding the 7^th grade.  By his first year of high school, Herman was performing in the marching and concert bands.

Herman’s occupation endeavors span from the very early years of delivering newspapers, flipping burgers and bagging groceries, to assembling televisions, to entering patient medical stats into a healthcare database, to the professional challenge of responding to large-scale computer software and hardware issues; then ultimately to supporting instructional-sized computer operations.  The latter from which he retired after 24 years in 2012 at age 62.  His early retirement from Sentara Healthcare as a shift leader was in large part necessary to address health issues of his aging mother.

Some of Herman’s hobbies and interests included barbequing outdoors, fishing, playing cards, chess and board games.  His passion for music mellowed from mastering and performance to novice audiophile; his preferred genres were jazz fusion, concert piano and classical organ.