Herb Colker was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1920 and is the third son of a Russian immigrant family. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati where he met and married Betty Galpin in 1942. Herb served his country in the United States Army, landing on Omaha Beach on July 8, 1944. He later fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
After returning home in 1946, he joined his brother at West Virginia Electric Supply. Herb has been a member of the Rotary Club of Huntington since 1950 and has since served as the head of the International Student Exchange Program and is a Paul Harris Fellow. He is a life member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board and assisted in securing funds for their present facility. He has been a member of the Tri-State Area Council of Boy Scouts for 20 years, and his three sons are Eagle Scouts.
He is a patron of the Marshall Artist Series, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Huntington Symphony Orchestra, Huntington Museum of Art and Big Brothers-Big Sisters of the Tri-State. He has always been civic-minded and is known for his random acts of kindness.
