Bertram Herlong: A Life-long Love for Education

Education opens doors. This simple yet profoundly held belief motivated The Rt. Rev. Bertram Herlong throughout his decades-long life in ministry and, alongside planting churches, establishing hospices and senior citizen centers, and even collaborating with foreign missions, Bishop Herlong never tired in seeking educational opportunities for those around him.

Again, it is a wonderful piece, and I am proud my father’s legacy is being shared in such a unique way. Hopefully, it will spur others to make planned gifts to Nashotah House as well. 

In 1934, Bertram Herlong was born in Lake City, Florida. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature and English from the University of Florida in 1956, he went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree from the School of Theology at Sewanee, Tennessee, and a Master of Sacred Theology from St. Luke's Seminary, University of the South. Herlong was later awarded a Doctor of Ministry degree from New York Theological Seminary in 1980, an honorary doctorate from both Nashotah House Theological Seminary and The University of the South.

After his ordination in 1960 in the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, Fr. Herlong served as the founding vicar of St. Jude's Church, Valparaiso, and Church of the Epiphany in Crestview. He later served as canon pastor of St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville, and as founding chaplain and assistant headmaster of Jacksonville Episcopal High School (now the Episcopal School of Jacksonville). He went on to serve as associate rector and vicar of Trinity Church Wall Street and St. Paul's Chapel, New York, from 1972-1979, and was a founding member of a hospice at the Beekman Downtown Hospital in Manhattan and founder of St. Margaret's Housing Center for senior citizens.

Bishop Herlong and Vickie (née Barbara Ann Vickers), his wife of 54 years, had two daughters, Angela and Michele. Angela tells us that her father always had a passion for and commitment to education, “For my father, education meant empowerment,” Angela said. “Education opens doors. Education and the thirst for knowledge are life-long pursuits. To this end, my father played a major part in starting several schools throughout his lifetime. He was the first Chaplain and became Assistant Headmaster at Jacksonville Episcopal High School, now Episcopal School of Jacksonville. Teaching theology classes, leading weekly worship services, even writing a rock mass and playing the guitar with students in chapel, Daddy was actively engaged with students and loved being able to help shape both the minds and the hearts of the students he encountered daily.” 

Herlong’s legacy in education included the encouragement of his own children and the children of his parishioners to pursue their studies. In 1979, he became dean and rector of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit, Michigan, where he founded the cathedral school – named Herlong Cathedral School in his honor – and established two senior citizen housing communities.

A substantial gift was made recently by the estate of Bertram Herlong that will continue to impact Nashotah House moving forward. “It was my parents’ desire to give monetarily to Nashotah House to establish an endowed scholarship fund,” Angela said. “Nashotah House embodies the Anglo-Catholic theology—focusing on prayer and liturgy—that both of my parents lived out in their daily lives. In giving, they wanted to allow more theological students to love and serve God more faithfully, to know Christ more fully, and to make Him better known to others through the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

“Education was one of the most important aspects of my father’s life,” Angela said. “As I think back on the lessons he taught me, one of the most important was an instilled joy and passion for knowledge. Bertram Nelson Herlong was a devout life-long learner. My grandmother was an elementary school teacher whose mission was to change the world, one child at a time, by inspiring them to learn and make a difference. This was a lesson my father learned from her and took to heart, believing that he could lead by example.”

Angela recalled how her father taught respect and compassion for others and for the world. Read, learn, and inwardly digest knowledge, she said, so that they would grow into the extraordinary people God created them to be. 

From 1993-2007, The Rt. Rev. Bertram Herlong served as the 10th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee. During his episcopate, the diocese embarked on an energetic program of church planting, particularly in the suburbs around Nashville. 

Prior to his death in 2011, Herlong was instrumental in growing the Diocese of Tennessee by starting new congregations with the help of a generous group known as Volunteers for Mission. During his tenure as bishop, Tennessee became the fastest growing diocese in the Episcopal Church.  

“My father believed in developing Christian values and empowering servants to spread the good news of Christ Jesus throughout their communities and the world,” Angela said. “He shaped my beliefs, deepened my faith, and instilled in me a life-long desire to serve others.” 

Angela reports that to this day she reads several books a week, a habit developed from her father that she was encouraged to engage in. Following in her father’s footsteps, Angela earned a degree in English and creative writing and she taught school for several years before pivoting back to school for a nursing degree. Over the years, Angela began her nursing career in a fifty-eight bed county general hospital, served as a charge nurse in the cardiac unit of a large metropolitan hospital, as the director of several home health agencies in Tennessee and Florida, and later retired as administrator of two assisted living facilities in Florida. 

“My education has served me well,” she said. “I know Daddy would be proud of the woman I’ve become. He affected many students’ lives, and it is an honor to know my father’s legacy continues in support of Nashotah House.”

If you would like to discuss planned gift opportunities, please contact Labin Duke, Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement, at lduke@nashotah.edu or phone (262) 646-6517.