Hera Naomi Bishop (1940)

Hera Naomi Bishop was born on July 14, 1919, in Portsmouth, Virginia, the daughter of Nellie Bishop and Roland Bishop. According to the 1920 Census, neither Roland or Nellie were able to read or write; Roland worked as a laborer. The family lives at 625 North Street in Portsmouth. Ten years later, in 1930, Nellie worked as a laundress while raising Nellie and two younger brothers. In September 1938, Bishop began the training program at Piedmont Tuberculosis Sanatorium and graduated in May 1940. In 1941, Bishop was employed as a nurse in Richmond. Bishop served in World War Two as a nurse, and remained in the military after the war, with service at the Armed Forces Staff College. Bishop was a member of the Basilica of St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk and sang in the Gospel Choir. Bishop died in 1993, and is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens, Norfolk.