Melvin D. Herman

Melvin D. Herman - HERMAN, MELVIN D. - After a brief illness, Mel sailed into his next journey surrounded by his family on Wednesday, August 15, 2012. A resident of Santa Rosa for over 60 years, Mel attended Santa Rosa Junior College and graduated from UC Berkeley before starting his life-long career at Exchange Bank. As Executive Vice-President, Mel developed nationally recognized marketing campaigns and pioneered innovative banking technology including migrating banking records from paper to microfiche and implementing one of the first Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) programs in the country. While some were skeptical of these technologies, Mel remained a strong advocate of developing new strategies for better meeting the needs of his customers and streamlining banking processes. He retired from the bank after 38 years of service and continued to stay in touch with his former colleagues and friends while offering sage advice for the new generation of banking professionals. Born to William and Viola Herman in Eureka, California, Mel spent his childhood in Mendocino County and graduated at the top of his Laytonville High School class. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1944 and later married Joan Camozzi who remained the love of his life for 62 years. Mel is survived by his children and in-laws including, Judy and Jim Dockendorff (Cincinnati, OH), Melvin Jr. and Heidi Herman (Crockett), Dennis Herman (Hayward), Richard Herman (Sacramento), and Lisa and Mark Tortorich (Half Moon Bay). His grandchildren and great-grand children remember their "Grampie"