"This Magic Moment"
as you read the story about him,
knowing and loving him was a truly Magic Moment!
He is missed so much!
By Jodie Tillman
Valley News Staff Writer Tunbridge --
Herb Einwiller lived off a quiet road here, alone except for a backyard menagerie that included emus, elk, goats, dogs and a pot-bellied pig named Peggy.
Caring for the animals was a labor of love, friends say, one that had Herbert up early every morning to tend to each animal, to treat each one with sharp attention to its particular needs. It was a labor of love that led him to post playful “Pig Crossing” and “Emu Crossing” signs at the end of his driveway on Morrill Road, next to a pair of plastic pink flamingoes.
It was a labor of love that cost him his life.
Herbert, 51, was gored by his 700-pound bull elk named Mack late Thursday afternoon, police said, while the animal was in violent mating-season frenzy.
Herbert was apparently trying to prevent Mack from hurting other animals after the bull elk got into a pen with two mature female elk. Three of the animals -- two elk calves and a goat -- were also killed by Mack, police said.
Herbert’s best friend and neighbor, Bill Danforth, discovered his body around 6 a.m. yesterday. Bill went to Herbert’s house after he and his wife Marie had received a call from Herbert’s daughter, a Colorado resident who had expected her father to pick her up at a Connecticut airport the previous evening.
He never appeared.
Bill, after finding the body, raced back home and got his gun because the bull elk would not let him get near his friend’s body, Marie Danforth said. He shot and killed the animal, but it was too late for Herbert, who had lived in Tunbridge for nearly six years.
“You couldn’t ask for a better man,” she said. Herbert had planned to dehorn Mack soon, said Marie Danforth, because he knew the danger that the animal presented during mating season.
Herbert, who was divorced with two grown daughters, moved to Vermont from Colorado, where most of his relatives still live. German by birth, he was a legal alien in the United States, said Marie Danforth.
Herbert was a quiet “old soul,” said neighbor Carol Juergens. He was not sad so much as deeply empathetic, she said. Empathetic to both humans and his animals. When he went to pick up a Basenji dog from a rescue group, for example, the dog ran out and bit him. He understood, and bit him back.
Herbert took him home, and the two were great friends, said Marie Danforth.
Caring for his animals was not Herbert’s only passion. He was also a master goldsmith, making at his home intricate pieces of jewelry that he sold on commission to individuals and Northeast jewelry companies. He also gave them away to his friends.
If Herbert was attuned to each of his very different animals, he was even more so to the personalities and interests of his friends.
Yesterday, several women who had gathered in Marie Danforth’s kitchen to talk about their neighbor were wearing his jewelry.
Marie Danforth, who sells maple syrup, showed a charm bracelet with a sugaring theme -- a sap bucket with a tiny diamond representing a drop of sap; a maple leaf; a maple-frosted donut; and a detailed miniature of the Danforths’ sugar house.
“He just made the most beautiful things,” said Juergens. Herbert was in the midst of building a stacked wood barn for his animals. He had been to the Valley News offices on several recent occasions to pick up old newspapers, which he put in the cement as added insulation. He had a shed for the animals, friends say, but he wanted something better.
Marie and Bill Danforth of Tunbridge don’t want to keep returning the scene of their best friend’s awful death last week.
But they do return each day to Herb Einwiller’s farm—to care for their former neighbor’s many animals. One of Herbert’s beloved animals—a mature male elk named Mack—gored his owner to death last Thursday, as the 51-year-old man evidently tried to protect several smaller animals from the bull elk’s mating season frenzy.
The bull had broken out of a separate pen because he wanted to mate with two cow elk in a separate enclosure, Marie Danforth said this week. Mack also killed the two baby elk and a goat that were penned with the cow elk. Danforth said she was sure that Herbert had entered the pen in an attempt to rescue those smaller animals.
It was ironic, she added, that her friend was killed by one of the animals he tended so carefully and lovingly.
In a tired and flat voice that showed the emotional strain of the past week, Danforth talked about her friend and the events of last week.
Herbert, a "wonderful, very talented man," moved to Morrill Road, next to the Danforths, six years ago: "You couldn’t ask for a better neighbor," Danforth said. She and her husband last saw Herbert Wednesday night, Danforth said. They had all spent the day at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds. Bill Danforth and Herbert had installed, in the Antiques Cabin, the new gold-leaf sign that Herbert, a master goldsmith, and made and donated.
The Danforths and Herbert saw each other "pretty near every day," and Herbert had dinner with them many nights, but they didn’t see each other Thursday, Danforth said.
Early Friday morning, Herbert’s daughter called to inquire if the Danforths knew where her father was. He was supposed to pick her up at a Connecticut airport the previous night, but never showed, Kerstin Einwiller said.
Bill Danforth went immediately to his neighbor’s farm. He found the male elk in the large pen with the cows, but he could not see his friend, nor would Mack allow him to enter. Danforth could see enough, however, to fear the worst.
Danforth went back to his house to get the gun; Marie called the ambulance. Danforth returned to Herbert’s, shot the bull, and found his friend, dead. He was returning to the house when first responders Linda Kuban and Alan Ackerman, First Branch Ambulance & Rescue, arrived, at around 6:30 a.m. They all returned to Herbert's.
Mack, according to Marie Danforth, "was up again." Danforth shot him again, finally killing the bull. Mack, who had a huge rack, weighed about 700 pounds, according to state police, who also responded.
Marie Danforth noted that Herbert had been aware of the danger posed by the elk, which would placidly eat from the hand when he was not in rut. A year ago, Mack had killed another baby elk during mating season, and Herbert had talked about the need to de-horn him, Danforth said.
Danforth is sure Herbert was killed Thursday morning. The Danforths found a tub of grain, which Herbert had evidently readied for morning chores, but never had a chance to deliver. There was also a pitchfork by the gate of the pen, which Herbert probably planned to use to ward off Mack, she said.
Their neighbor, who often tended the Danforths’ animals when they went away, rarely spent time away from his farm, she said.
Herbert kept his long hair pulled back in a ponytail and always wore jeans and a comfortable, open-neck shirt with no collar. Behind that casual style, however, was a meticulous craftsman: Herbert was a master goldsmith, who undertook a long apprenticeship in his native Germany.
Although he might appear reserved to those who did not know him well, Herbert was warm, generous, and good-humored, Danforth said.
Many local fundraising projects benefited from Herbert’s donations of fine jewelry. For the Mill Bridge fund, he crafted tiny gold and silver replicas of the covered bridge, which was torn out in the 1997 flooding. All proceeds, except for the cost of the metals, went to the fund, Danforth said.
Herbert just recently made a donation of jewelry to the 4-H Fund, and he often presented custom-designed gold charms to his friends. He always helped out with the Grange’s game supper, Danforth added.
The townsfolk, it appears, are now doing their mite to give back something to Herb Einwiller and those who loved him.
"The support the community has shown—the help, the things neighbors have given us and Herb’s daughter—you’d need the front page of The Herald to express our thanks," Danforth said. By Sandy Cooch
Ein Mann von Tunbridge wird von einem Tier getötet als er versucht andere Tiere zu retten Tunbridge.
Herb Einwiller lebte hier ganz alleine in einer sehr ruhigen Strasse.Hinter seinem Haus war sein"Tierheim" bestehend aus Emus,Elchen,Ziegen,Hunden und einem kleinen Schwein mit Namen Peggy.
Freunde von Herb sagen,sein Lebensinhalt war,sich um Tiere zu kümmern. Herbert war jeden Morgen schon früh auf,um jedes seiner Tiere entsprechend dessen Bedürfnissen optimal zu versorgen.Für Herb war es eine Liebesbezeugung,die ihn das Leben kostete.
Der 51 jährige Herbert wurde von seinem 700 Pfund schweren Elchbullen mit dem Namen Mack am späten Donnerstag Nachmittag aufgespießt.Das Tier war in der Brunft und war deshalb voller Agression.Herbert wollte offensichtlich verhindern,dass der Bulle andere Tiere verletzt.Mack war bereits in ein Gatter mit zwei Elchkühen eingedrungen.Wie die Polizei berichteten hatte Mack drei andere Tiere getötet,zwei Elchkälber und eine Ziege.
Herberts bester Freund und Naachbar Bill Danforth entdeckte gestern gegen 6 Uhr am Abend Herb's leiche.Danforth und seine Frau Marie waren zu Einwiller's Haus hinübergelaufen,nachdem sie einen Anruf von Herb's Tochter bekommen hatten.Es war ausgemacht gewesen,dass Herb seine Tochter am Flughafen von Connecticut am Abend zuvor abholen sollte.Aber er ist nicht erschienen.
Danforth rannte nach hause,so erzählte Marie,holte sein Gewehr und erschoss den Elchbullen,der Danforth nicht an den Körper von Herb herankommen ließ.
Für Einwiller kam jedoch jede Hilfe zu spät.
Sechs Jahre lebte Herb Einwiller bereits in Tunbridge.Marie Danforth erzählte, dass Herb vorhatte,dem Elchbullen die Hörner zu entfernen,da er wusste,dass das Tier während der Brunftzeit eine Gefahr darstellt.
Herb Einwiller war geschieden.Er hat zwei erwachsene Töchter.Von Colorado,wo die meisten seiner Verwandten leben, war er vor Jahren nach Vermont gekommen.Er ist gebürtiger Deutscher und lebte als legaler Ausländer in den USA.
Carol Jürgens,eine weitere Nachbarin sagt Einwiller war ein ruhiger Mann,eine gute Seele.Er hatte eine feste und bestimmte Einstellung zu Menschen und Tieren. Sich um seine Tiere zu kümmern,war nicht Einwiller's einzige Leidenschaft.Er war auch ein meisterhafter Goldschmied.In seinem Haus machte er wunderbare Schmuckstücke,die er an Privatleute und auch an Schmuckfirmen im Nordosten verkaufte.Er verschenkte auch viele seiner Schmuckstücke an Freunde.Einwiller hing an seinen so verschiedenartigen Tiern,aber noch viel mehr an seinen Freunden.
Gestern trafen sich mehrere Frauen aus der Nachbarschaft in der Küche von Marie Danforth und sprachen über Herb.Sie alle trugen Schmuck,den er angefertigt hatte.Marie,die Ahornsirup herstellt und verkauft,trug eine Halskette mit Nachbildungen von Ahornblättern und Ahornfrüchten.Er hat wünderhübsche Dinge gemacht,sagt Carol Jürgens.
Herb Einwiller war gerade dabei,eine Scheune aus Holzstämmen für all seine Tiere zu zimmern.Er hatte wohl einen Unterstand für sie,er wollte ihnen aber ein solideres und besseres Heim bauen
