Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Lindsey Bruce Herd Jr., 83, an accountant with federally funded airline companies in Asia who later worked as a consultant in
the Washington area, died Nov. 1 of leukemia at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Grapevine, Tex. His permanent residence
was in Leesburg, Fla., and he had been living recently with his daughter in Texas.
Mr. Herd was born in Birmingham, Ala., and came to Washington in his youth. He graduated from Eastern High School in 1943.
From 1946 to 1952, he was a member of the Tuxedo-Cheverly volunteer fire department.
During World War II, he was a gunner's mate on a Coast Guard troop ship in the South Pacific. He later served in the Navy
Reserve and was recalled to active duty in 1950 and 1951. He was a member of Navy pistol and baseball teams.
Mr. Herd graduated from the University of Maryland in 1950 and joined Civil Air Transport, a U.S.-funded airline in Asia, as an
accountant in 1952. He worked in Hong Kong and Taiwan before being assigned to Tokyo in 1953.
In 1956, Mr. Herd moved to Taiwan to lead the internal auditing department of the airline, which was later known as Air Asia and
Air America. The airline had links to the CIA and covert operations in Southeast Asia, but it also operated commercial cargo and
passenger flights.
Mr. Herd was a vice president and treasurer of Air America when he closed its Taiwan office in 1976 and moved to McLean. He
then worked as a management consultant with Computer Sciences for 18 years. He moved to Florida in 2000.
Mr. Herd was a member of the Masons and Scottish Rite in Taiwan and helped build a Masonic temple there. He was a
member of the Shriners in Fairfax County and was also a member of the American Legion. He enjoyed golf and participated in
homeowners groups and in his children's sports activities.
He was a member of Lewinsville Presbyterian Church in McLean.
His wife of 43 years, Ruth W. Herd, died in 2003.
Survivors include two children, Karil A. Ellinger of Coppell, Tex., and Lindsey Bruce Herd III of Virginia Beach; a sister, Evelyn
Louise King of Fredericksburg; and four grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel