Herm died April 16, 2014, in Lafayette, Colorado. He graduated from Robertsville High School (Alabama) and spent two years in the merchant marines before attending Auburn University. Herm jumped at Missoula for the 1950-51 seasons before working for the CIA on various projects including the Taiwan Project documented in an October 2005 piece in Smokejumper magazine.

Herm started a career in 1956 with the USFS and retired in Colorado. During retirement he started a business putting together forestry management plans for landowners.