Heron J. Salmon of Sterling, Illinois was born October 11, 1940 in Rio Grande City, Texas. He died October 19, 2026 at home with his wife by his side. He was the son of Luis & Consuelo (Chavez) Salmon.

Heron attended Rio Grande City High School. He came to Illinois in 1959 for seasonal work to pick tomatoes & strawberries at farms where he also baled hay. He went up to Wisconsin one summer with his cousins & Uncle to pick cherries. He officially moved to Illinois in 1961 and worked in Batavia fixing gas heaters. He moved to Sterling in 1965.

He was drafted in the U.S. Army June 1966. While training for 6 months in Fort Sill Oklahoma, he met his long time friend, Pedro, who eventually became the Godfather to his son. But first they would be on a ship for 21 days in the Pacific & South China Sea to Vietnam. "Heron was on the frontline in Vietnam as a Field Illumination Specialist with Battery G 29th Artillery, protecting the areas where supplies came in and the wounded left." as told by his Vietnam Brother, Larry. The guys would be in pairs, one shining the infrared light while the other was looking for the enemy through special binoculars. Heron received six decorations for his time serving our country.

After returning he worked different jobs until landing employment at Northwestern Steel & Wire where he was asked to work in the drawing room, he didn't think he would be able to "draw" very good, but then he found out what that really meant in a steel mill.  He retired from the Mill in 1998, but if you knew Heron, you knew that didn't mean he would "never work again."  Throughout his lifetime he enjoyed fishing, bowling, camping, lots of motorcycle riding, even riding across country solo and with his son.  For the whole 33 years he was married to Rosa, he loved taking her to see the sights in our country, even during chemo treatments, he would get a treatment, then they would leave the state for a week. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant brother and his brother Hector Salmon.

Survivors include his wife, Rosa, daughter Angelica (Marc) Tintori, son Jason (Linda) Harms, step children Lupita (Carlos) Hernandez & Francisco Garcia, brother Luis (Mary Lou) Salmon, twin siblings Homer (Kari) Salmon, Oralia (Crescencio) Avila, sister-in-law Barbara, Step-mom Cresencia Salmon, step sisters Grace Guerrero & Blanca Salmon, step brother Jose Luis Pena,  grandsons Nathan Sotelo & Michael Sotelo, granddaughters Sharon Harms & Caitlin Nolan, step-grandchildren Diego Hernandez, Andy (Ashley) Hernandez, Allan Hernandez, Jonathan Garcia, three great grandchildren and one on the way. 

Visitation will be 10AM-11AM Saturday October 24, 2026 at Schilling Funeral Home & Cremation in Sterling. Burial with military rites will take place at Calvary cemetery in Sterling, following the visitation.

A memorial has been established.

Condolences may be sent to www.schillingfuneralhome.com