To the Matriarch of our family, five generations strong. Faylese Herd was an exceptional woman. I am so proud that she was my aunt. I’ll see her later on. Much love. ❤️
Faylese Herd
August 21, 1934 ~ June 15, 2026
Marietta Southern Cremations & Funerals
Faylese Irwin Person was born on August 21, 1934 to Samuel F. and Fay A.
Person. She was their fourth daughter and the family was completed years later by the birth of their only son. Faylese started and completed her education with the Pittsburgh Public School system graduating from David B. Oliver High School in 1952 and she wrote the music for her class song. While a student there, she became the first African American majorette and she played the violin where she held the position of First Chair in the high school orchestra. Faylese accepted Christ in her youth at Tabernacle Baptist Church. She also remained an active member of the Girl Scouts of America and became the only black lifeguard for ALL troops in Allegheny County going to Camp Redwing during racial segregation.
Person. She was their fourth daughter and the family was completed years later by the birth of their only son. Faylese started and completed her education with the Pittsburgh Public School system graduating from David B. Oliver High School in 1952 and she wrote the music for her class song. While a student there, she became the first African American majorette and she played the violin where she held the position of First Chair in the high school orchestra. Faylese accepted Christ in her youth at Tabernacle Baptist Church. She also remained an active member of the Girl Scouts of America and became the only black lifeguard for ALL troops in Allegheny County going to Camp Redwing during racial segregation.
Faylese attended Business Training College which is now known as Point Park University where she majored in business upon graduating from high school.
In 1957 Faylese married the late James T. Herd, a mail handler for th U.S. Postal Service from W. Virginia. Three children are born to this union. Both Faylese and James were active members in their church and community. She was a soprano and he was a tenor and both played the piano. Faylese Herd was the youngest president of the Women’s Association at Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church where she and her James sang in the choir and raised their children. She was a seamstress and made most of the clothes she and her family wore.
After being a housewife and raising children for 10 years, Faylese returned to college at Robert Morris College as an economics major and earned a 4.0 GPA. Her professor Dr. Schlesinger, used her as an example to younger students to never give up.
Faylese loved making ceramics and for over fifty years she used her love for her hobby to make gifts for people she cared about.
Performing in a singing group comprised of one of her sisters, Mary Agnes Lewis and dear friend Theodora Cotten under the name Sisters In Christ, they sang at churches locally in Pittsburgh and around the tri-state area. Faylese loved to travel and in her lifetime, she lived in California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia , Illinois, New Jersey and Georgia.
After a long career in banking as a teller for Mellon bank, she also helped raise her grandchildren who lived in Pittsburgh. She supported them in their music, athletics, church participation and school and welcomed her out of state grandchildren with an open heart and arms when the visited each other. She moved to California in the 1990’s for a few years then returned to Pittsburgh after working for Cal Fed and living in Hawthorne, California. She loved spending time at the Casino, going on trips with members of the Penn Hills Senior Center while living in Duff Manor.
In 2018, Faylese moved to the Atlanta metro area to be with her caregivers, her daughter and niece, Virginia Moore where she would spend the rest of her life. She made new friends in Cobb County at the North Cobb Senior Center and Christ Church For All. Faylese enjoyed visiting family, going on trips from the center, taking classes and playing spades. Three weeks prior to her death when her health began declining, she decided to enter into hospice care at home. Family Hospice is the standard by which all should be met. Faylese was the matriarch over five generations of the Person -Herd family and she leaves her legacy in the hands of her family. Her pride and joy were her children, De’Velma Coleman, Stanford Coleman (deceased), J. Sheldon Herd & his wife Elnora Herd, Darrow T. Herd Sr. (deceased) and her brother Dr. Samuel Person & his wife Frances Person and her Niece Virginia Moore. Her sisters Doris Loving, Geraldine Johnson and Mary Agnes Lewis, all preceded her in death. She leaves behind 12 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great -grandchild.
May we all be blessed with a life as well lived and loved as Faylese.
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