Laura M. Herdegen

Laura MacMullen Herdegen, 85, of North Wales, passed away peacefully Wednesday, December 9, 2015. She was the loving wife of George Herdegen, who died November 9, 2014.
Born December 31, 1929, she was the daughter of the late Charles W. and Matilda (Oberle) MacMullen

Laura was born Laura Mary MacMullen, the third of four children who grew up during the Depression. She was greatly influenced by her parents and the times in which she grew up. Her mother was a teacher and her father didn't have the opportunity for much schooling, but was one of the most erudite men I've ever met---he wrote poetry, could speak with anyone about anything, and had many jobs, from farmer to Department of Agriculture inspector. From her parents she learned strength and to share her opinions. She told many funny and moving stories of her childhood. We filled a book with her experiences.

Laura attended North Penn High School and went on to Ursinus College as a math, then a chemistry major. There, she met Bill Smith and quit college to get married. She had two children and eventually divorced and became an executive secretary.
She met George Herdegen and they married and had James. Laura went back to Ursinus, graduated with honors, and went on to Lehigh University to obtain a Master's Degree in Psychology. She worked as a school psychologist for Methacton for many years and was passionate about doing the best she could for students and their parents.

People who knew her, though, will remember her through her many talents and the activities that she enjoyed. Laura was very, very good at many things and could have made a profession out of any one.

She could have been a horticulturalist. She had four and a half acres to work with in Pennsylvania and another two lots in Florida---a different climate, different plants, more catalogs and visits to botanical gardens, nurseries, and obscure suppliers that she seemed magically to find. Dad was always transplanting things, it seemed. Every corner of the house was filled with plants---the more unusual, the better.

Laura could have been an interior designer. For over two years, she redesigned and remodeled her home. She loved antiques, French and Victorian furniture and Oriental rugs. She upholstered her own furniture and made her own drapes. Laura delighted in seeking out unusual fabrics in design houses such as Waverly and seemed to favor anything Oriental with orange, green, or turquoise.
Laura could have been an artist. She painted in oils, acrylics and watercolors. She taught ceramics and her work was in every room of the house. She tatted, knitted, crocheted, and did needlepoint, and completed everything from a fisherman sweater to a bargello piece for her Victorian footstool to reproductions of the Cluny tapestries.

Laura loved to travel. She saw national and state parks, botanical gardens, lovely hotels and natural and manmade wonders from the east coast to Hawaii. She traveled to Canada, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Costa Rica, and New Zealand. Her favorite trip was to China. Descendants of Flying Tigers were invited to travel from banquet to banquet across the country and she delighted in describing every course.

Laura could have been a master chef. She set a lavish table with silver, china, candles, flowers she arranged from her garden, and delicious food. She had an extensive library of cookbooks, probably watched every cooking show ever produced, and would pore over recipes for hours---changing them, of course!
She had a beautiful soprano voice and loved to sing in the church choir, where she soloed many times.

Laura lived a full, rich life with many experiences. I often thought she really wasn't finished yet. There was so much more to see and do.

Graveside Services will be 11 a.m. Monday, December 21, 2015, at George Washington Memorial Park, 80 Stenton Ave, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. For those attending please gather within the entrance of the cemetery at 10:30 a.m. Huff & Lakjer Funeral Home, Lansdale, is handling arrangements.