Herdis Bjarney Gudmund

Captain Herdis Bjarney Gudmund, U.S. Air Force, age 83, died peacefully on Memorial Day, May 28, 2018 at her home in Cloverdale after a short illness.
Herdis was one of twelve siblings and is survived by her loving Icelandic family of whom mostly reside in Iceland. She was preceded in death by her brother Björn Jóhannes Guðmundsson. 
She was born in Grundafirdi, Iceland on July 12,1935, and graduated from High School in Winthrop, Massachusetts where she resided with her uncle and his family. Herdis received her medical training as a registered nurse at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, a facility affiliated with Harvard Medical School.
Herdis was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force at Brooks AFB in Texas and assigned to McGuire AFB in New Jersey where she flew on medivac flights that included missions to Antarctica. Her further assignments included: Yokoda, Tachikawa and Johnson AF Bases in Japan and Clark AFB in Central Luzon, Philippines. While in the Philippines, she provided nursing care to the native aboriginal tribesmen of Bataan. Herdis’ final assignment was to the 832nd Tactical Hospital Squadron, Cannon AFB at Clovis, New Mexico. Her awards included the Air Medal with Gold Star, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Medal 7 years and the Antarctica Service Medal. 
In civilian life, Herdis was employed as an operating room nurse at San Francisco General and later at Kaiser in South San Francisco.  She retired from the Kaiser Surgery in 1997 and moved to Cloverdale, CA in 1998. While residing in South San Francisco, she sponsored two nieces, Elsa & Maria, from Iceland, so they could attend high school in America. Both are now successful women residing back in Iceland with their families.
Herdis served as the first female Post Commander of the Cloverdale American Legion Post 293. She was a member and docent for the Cloverdale Historical Society and was also deeply involved in animal rescue, especially cats. She was a well-known member of the Santa Rosa Quilt Guild and Moonlight Quilters of Sonoma County. Her expert quilting abilities saw her frequently at her favorite sewing places: Bolt Fabrics, Cloverdale and at the Village Sewing Center, Santa Rosa. She donated many of her quilts to community fundraisers as well as to children, cancer patients, and Veterans. She never missed a broadcast of her beloved New England Patriots. 
Herdis’ ashes will be scattered in her native Iceland. She was a true Viking!
Her friends and relatives want to particularly thank Lucy Ogden and Donna Cambra, both Army Nurse Veterans, for their loving help. Also, thank you to Kaiser and Sutter Hospice for their loving care. A very special thank you to friends for adopting her two precious cats, Jerry and Lucky.
She is fondly remembered by both her Icelandic family and her many friends.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday, July 14, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. at the Cloverdale American Legion Hall, 205 First St., Cloverdale.
Herdis and a few friends set up an animal rescue fund. She wished contributions be made to the Animal Hospital of Cloverdale, Attn: Cat Spay & Neuter Fund, 20 Industrial Drive, Cloverdale, CA 95425.