John Pierce Herrick provided a bequest to Occidental College in memory of his wife, Margaret Brown Herrick, for the purpose of constructing a chapel to bear her name, a building dedicated in 1964.

Margaret Brown Herrick was born in Charitan, Iowa, in 1871 and died in Los Angeles in 1954. Educated at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and at the Cincinnati Art School, she became a librarian, with prominent positions in Iowa and at the Library of Congress. After her marriage to Mr. Herrick in 1925, she made her home in Olean, New York. She provided financial assistance to Alfred University students, and is remembered with endowed scholarships at Alfred University and also at Princeton Theological Seminary.

John Pierce Herrick was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1868, and died in Los Angeles in 1961. His careers included that of newspaper editor and publisher, life insurance executive, real estate investor, banker, and author. He was best known as an oil producer, becoming one of the largest owners of oil royalties in western New York State. He was a founder of the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil Association and also founder and president of the New York State Oil Producers Association. Three books that he authored are in the Occidental library: Founding a Country Newspaper Fifty Years Ago; Empire Oil: The Story of Oil in New York State; and Bolivar, New York Pioneer Oil Town.

John Pierce Herrick was generous with his wealth, particularly to higher education where he endowed scholarships at a number of institutions.

Mr. Herrick and his first wife, Nellie Brown Young who died in 1922, were the parents of four children, one of whom was John Lafayette Herrick, who became a good friend and supporter of Occidental and by bequest upon his death in 2001 provided generously for the maintenance and program of Herrick Memorial Chapel and Interfaith Center.

By Jean Paule