From The USNA ’53 Lucky Bag: 
HERBERT ROBERT TIEDE New Britain, Connecticut "Big Herb's" fame spread far and wide when he became the first man to try for a 5.0 in PT. Herb's main sports were football and wrestling. His second claim to fame was his room, "Herbert's Gym and Delicatessen" as it was familiarly known. His collection of standard equipment for life at Navy consisted of barbells with assorted weights, pumpernickel bread, innumerable pieces of sweat gear, salt and soda, a large record collection (mostly Frank Wajnaroqski's Polkas), and the omnipresent cup of "Old Sock" tea. Sincere, goodnatured, hard working, Herbert was a fine player on anyone's team. 

For the next 71 years, with the addition of a wife, three children, and four grandchildren, most of that description remained true. He  danced on the Lawrence Welk show with Lawrence's wife, Fern Renner. I remembered that story when he danced with me at my wedding (It’s a Wonderful World, and yes, it was). He had a strong lead.

He may have been the oldest USNA football player when he died; he caught the first touchdown pass of the 1952 season, against Maryland State in what turned out to be a 51-0 game, Navy. He once competed in collegiate gymnastics, doing a floor routine of nothing but somersaults. (He was filling in for a gymnast who couldn’t compete, and a bad score was better than a no-show.) We have trouble imagining Dad father doing somersaults, but we remember the pirouette while modeling long johns (preparing for the Moscow attaché duty) when he broke his toe against brother Paul’s highchair. 

Ever the engineer solving problems, ever the proponent of preventative maintenance (if you use Break-free in the Marine Corps, thank Dad). The Marine Corps took the family to Germany and Moscow; he went to Korea, Okinawa, Vietnam, and Lebanon alone. He received the Legion of Merit (for service in peacetime) for his work at Quantico on safety inspections. He worked for Hartford Steam Boiler as a preventative maintenance specialist after retiring from the USMC and would commute to the office at 4 am to beat the Beltway traffic. One day, he bumped his head on the desk while changing out of his cold-weather, 4-am driving shoes and bled a bit. The next day, he found a hard hat at his desk with a Dymo label: Herb Tiede’s shoe-tying hat. 

When he retired from paid work, he became active in community volunteer work. He accepted the slings and arrows of advanced aging with grace. Faithfully taking large doses of vitamin C and exercising got him to 94; but the battle was lost to a variety of medical problems. 

Dad married Hazel Moult in 1958; death parted them in 2020. He missed her tremendously. He is survived by three children, Karen (John Hogan), Jan Swicord (Paul), and Paul Tiede, four grandchildren, Allison and Tim Swicord and Sierra and Sam Tiede, and his brother’s children, Albert Tiede, Carolyn Hayward, and their families.

We know he is with Mom, happily doing what she wants, collecting books, stacking all the newspapers around his chair, and telling other heavenly residents how to fix their mechanical problems. He’s probably got one or two improvement drawings ready to hand to St. Peter himself. I can hear him now, “Can we make just a few improvements? Have you considered this addition to the structure?” 

Dad was extremely intelligent, curious about everything, concerned with making the world around him better and safer for democracy, and kind. He was also tough and not real emotional. But he always had a joke, a laugh, and an off-kilter way of seeing things. He loved traveling and learning. He noticed what was out of place and different. 

A top-notch intelligence officer in defense of the U.S. He was a US Naval Academy alum and football player and U.S. Marine through and through. Not much more needs to be said except to add he was a loving husband, a great dad, and we will miss him. 

In his honor, you can read any Robert Service poem (try The Cremation of Sam McGee or The Ice Worm Cocktail) or listen to any Harry Lauder song (like Just a Wee Deoch and Doris). Or go walking and pick up trash. Or ring a Salvation Army bell at Christmas. Or teach English. Or do anything to improve the world where you are. And you can be unsmiling while doing it. That’s ok. It is what is in your heart that matters, not what’s on your face. Laugh a bit at yourself. 

He had a large and interesting life, and we are grateful to have been a part of it.

Thanks Dad.

Herb Tiede at 94 in wheelchair with rare smile!

HERBERT ROBERT TIEDE

Service

KOREA

VIETNAM

DEFENSE SUPERIOR SERVICE MEDAL

LEGION OF MERIT

BRONZE STAR MEDAL

MERITORIOUS SERVICE MEDAL

JOINT SERVICE COMMENDATION MEDAL

ARMY COMMENDATION MEDAL

US MARINE CORPS,

COL

Resting Place

Mementos

Tributes

Word Cloud

undefined

Milestones

Mementos

Historical Documents

Veteran programs and services

More VA resources

Get VA updates

In crisis? Get help now

Contact us