“We hope he is remembered with fondness and respect. And we hope that somehow, some way, this group of good folks gathered here can come up with an appropriate way to honor him for posterity… Something solid to show that his life mattered.”
Mary Lee Adler
Now it’s up to all of us to make this hope a reality. If you wish to contribute to the commemorative bench or to leave a message that will be posted here later, please complete the form below. If you wish to be on the project committee please indicate that in the remarks section.
A Place for Herb – Something Solid for a life that mattered
Trail Champion Herb Hiller – Losing a Trail Visionary
Herb Hiller was a passionate bicycling advocate who was instrumental in creating the Florida Bicycling Program. He was a visionary who played a major role in creating several important trails including the 260-mile St Johns River-to-Sea Loop and the supporting nonprofit organization the St Johns River-to-Sea Loop Alliance in 2016.
Herb served on the Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation Board and for the East Coast Greenway Alliance as South East Regional Consultant. He was always a bicycle and trail evangelist anda mentor to all. Earlier Herb was a tourism and planning consultant, a travel writer, and small hotels advocate. **
Herb died on February 3, 2025 at his home in Acworth Georgia, after suffering a fall. He was 93. A Celebration of Life was held for Herb on March 15, 2025. Read more about this below.
Herb’s wife Mary Lee was unable to be present, but she wrote requesting that we create an “appropriate way to honor him for posterity. An historic marker or plaque on a trail? Or a bench in a beautiful setting? Or any other idea that you all might come up with.
Something solid to show that his life mattered.”“
In keeping with the family’s wishes for “something solid” the St Johns River-to-Sea Loop Alliance is planning a commemorative bench to honor Herb and recognize his many contributions to cycling and trails in Florida. We hope it will become the first of many. The bench will be placed on the St Johns River-to-Sea Loop in Volusia County. If you wish to contribute to the commemorative bench, there is a space for you to make a donation and leave a message form. If you wish to be on the project committee please indicate that in the remarks section. To learn more about how we are planning to do this go here.
As Mark Lane said in his article titled Herb Hiller, losing an idea guy “Having one less idea guy is a real loss, no matter how advanced in years. I’ll certainly miss him.” As we all will.
Celebration of Life
The celebration of Herb’s life was held in Westminster Hall in Palatka. Linda Crider, a trail and cycling legend in her own life, did a wonderful job of pulling the event together with support from the St Johns River-to-Sea Loop Alliance. In addition to Linda and Maggie, participants included:
– Cyndi Stevenson, Former Member of the Florida House of Representatives representing St Augustine and St Johns County
– Atiba Mbiwan, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees East Coast Greenway Alliance
– Steven Carter, Greenways and Trails Coordinator/Central Region
– Robbi Correa, Mayor of Palatka
– Georgia Turner, Executive Director Visit West Volusia
– Richard Goldman, Director Florida State Parks Foundation
and other leaders in trails, cycling, conservation and preservation in Florida including Chris Stanton, Steve Davis and Susan Grandin and their spouses, and others. We are still working on the full attendees list. If you were present, or have photos and memories to share please send them to Info@river2sealoop.org
Click to view a video of the inaugural ride on the Loop in 2009. Many people featured were in the room.
A Place for Herb – Something Solid
Herb’s family was unable to be present. His wife, Mary Lee Adler is recovering from surgery and their daughter Magda and granddaughter Wyatt are caring for her. All were long time DeLand residents before relocating to Acworth, GA. I have converted images of Mary Lee’s letter For Herb Hiller’s Celebration of Life. It’s a moving letter that will mean so much to all of us who knew him, worked with him, and cared for him. I have uploaded the entire letter. I’m sure many will find something special in this letter that seems written just for them. As Mary Lee says:
“Just two nights before he died, he got all hot and bothered at 3 a.m., his habitual time to write, and struggled to get out of bed. He said he had to get to his desk because he had something important that he needed to send to somebody.
It’s likely that one of you here today is who he wanted to send that something important to.“
I’m sure that everyone in the room hoped that the something important was meant for him or her. I know I do. During our long working relationship Herb and I exchanged probably thousands of emails, most of them in the early morning thinking time. We didn’t always agree on priorities, ways and means, but we always agreed on our shared passion for the mission.
Here’s another part that hits home for me:
“Work, work, work was what Herb Hiller was all about. To be honest, Herb’s obsession with work meant that he wasn’t aways easy to live with. It was his primary focus in life, and not much else mattered to him. At times, that made life with him difficult and lonely for me, as well as a challenge for our two daughters who loved him dearly. But we knew that Herb’s work was for good causes and intended to make the world a better place. We knew that our role was to support him at home so he could be a champion for those causes. His devotion to bicycling, trails, eco-tourism, and the environment was steadfast. Herb didn’t just talk the talk; he walked the walk.”
We shared that passion for our causes and that passion takes a toll on family and other aspects of a balanced life. But here’s the part that tells us not to give up and gives us direction going forward:
“We hope he is remembered with fondness and respect. And we hope that somehow, some way, this group of good folks gathered here today can come up with an appropriate way to honor him for posterity. An historic marker or plaque on a trail? Or a bench in a beautiful setting? Or any other idea that you all might come up with.
Something solid to show that his life mattered.”
“We hope he is remembered with fondness and respect. And we hope that somehow, some way, this group of good folks gathered here can come up with an appropriate way to honor him for posterity… Something solid to show that his life mattered.”
Mary Lee Adler