Erminia Hernandez

March 2, 1930 – August 31, 2020

“She was devoted to her family and cherished every moment with them”

Erminia “Minnie” Hernandez was born in Big Spring, Texas on March 2, 1930 to Manuel and Dolores De Santiago. She was the oldest of 2 children (girls) one year apart. After a year, the family moved to San Diego where Minnie spent the rest of her life.

Minnie eloped at the young age of 16 and married Sal Hernandez who was fresh out of the Army. They met on a blind date and were married a month later. At Sal’s passing last year, they had been married 72 years.

As a young woman, she took classes in cosmetology and became a hairdresser. After only a year of that, she began her long career as a machinist. A small machine shop proprietor who made airplane parts hired her without any skills and trained her on various machines. She became very competent at her work and later worked for General Dynamics making parts for the Space Shuttle. At one point, she got to work on parts for the first “stealth plane” and got security clearance allowing her to make the parts in a high security area. She learned how to read blueprints and used advanced math skills in order to do her job.

When she started out as a machinist, she only had a 9th grade education. In her early 40’s, she went back to school and got her high school diploma. She believed in education and always encouraged her three children, Ernie, Sandy and Eddie to do well in school. She attended all of the extracurricular activities in which her children participated.

Minnie loved her family, had faith in God, was excellent at crochet, volunteered to help the needy and always had kind words to offer. She is survived by her son Ernie (Betty) Hernandez, daughter Sandy (Mike) Combs, son Edward Hernandez, and many grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Elizabeth (Dick) Sanders, cousins and many nieces and nephews.