Herman King, a retired MSU administrator and alumnus died Sunday at the age of 88.

"He liked everything about MSU," his wife, Alice King, remembered. "He always wanted to come back here and they wanted him back and so he did."

Herman King grew up on a farm near Grand Ledge. He received his bachelor's degree at MSU and then went on to earn his doctorate degree from Big Ten rival Pennsylvania State University.

He returned to MSU as an extension agent for the Department of Entomology. From there, Herman King held positions in the College of Natural Science, Provost's Office and also worked as a professor in the Department of Entomology for about 15 years.

"I can remember when I was a small child he would be playing the MSU fight song on the piano," said his daughter, Margaret King.

Her father also got involved in the MSU's commencement ceremonies while at the university, often meeting guest speakers at the airport.

"He would get to meet some really impressive people, which I thought was pretty neat (because) I didn't get to meet those people," Margaret King said.

Herman King also was involved with MSU's Army ROTC program during the Vietnam War.

"He ended up sometimes being in the middle of some controversy," Margaret King said. "He tried to help different groups to see each other's point of view."

Herman King retired in 1980, but not after he got to see Margaret King attend his alma mater.

"I had just started there before he retired," she said. "The influence (he had) was in passing on the love of MSU."

Stephanie Korneffel