Obituary for Kristjana B. Dimon

Order Flowers

Life Story for Kristjana B. Dimon

Kristjana Breidfjord Dimon
December 25, 1930 – January 19, 2017

Kristjana Breidfjord was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, on December 25, 1930, to Sigurdur and Margret Breidfjord. Usually, an Icelander has a surname that simply tells whose son or daughter they are, e.g., Jonssohn or Ericsdottir; however, being a descendent of one of Iceland’s original settlers, her family was one of the few in Iceland entitled to possess and use a family name. Her surname, which is actually Breiðfjörð in Icelandic (which is little changed from the language of the Vikings who settled Iceland) translates as Wide Fjord. Her father was lost at sea when she was very young. She was raised in Hafnarfjordur, a fishing village by the sea not far from the capital city of Reykjavik. She grew up with a love of the theater and became a professional actress while still in her teens. An older sister had married an American fighter pilot stationed in Iceland during World War II, and “Sjana”, as she was known to family, lived with them in Hempstead, Long Island, N. Y., in 1948 after graduating from high school, learning English in the process. Returning to Iceland, she devoted herself to the theater and in time became a respected actress in a professional theater in Reykjavik.

In 1954, her sister’s husband was on the staff of the Headquarters of the NATO base at Keflavik, Iceland, at the same time as an Air Force lieutenant named “Hork” Dimon was assigned as a pilot in the fighter squadron there. He was also serving as Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General and was thus known to everyone in the Headquarters. Her brother-in-law and sister introduced them to each other, and history repeated itself. When Hork had orders back to the U.S. in late 1954, she could not leave Iceland as she had a role in a very popular play and her existing contract with the theater ran for another five months. The play shut down when she left.

Thus, Kristjana immigrated to the U.S. in April 1955, and they were married in Scarsdale, N. Y., on April 30, 1955. At the time, he was stationed at Presque Isle Air Force Base (AFB), a small fighter base in northern Maine, where she experienced far colder temperatures and much more snow than she had ever seen in Iceland. From there, the Air Force led them to Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio; Griffiss AFB, Rome, N. Y.; the University of Chicago; Andrews AFB, Camp Springs, Md.; the Pentagon; Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque; N.M.; a most memorable tour in Paris, France; and, finally, back to the Pentagon until Air Force retirement, settling down in Northern Va. Only then was she in one place long enough to complete the path to U. S. citizenship, which she finally received to her great joy in December 1987. Later, she also proudly achieved a Real Estate license and became engaged in selling new residences. She moved to her final home at Ashby Ponds in Ashburn, Va., in June 2009 where she immersed herself for several years in her favorite pastime, playing duplicate bridge, until her several illnesses halted even that activity.

Despite encouragement, she was always hesitant to enter the theater again in her new country. Being a perfectionist in that regard, she didn’t want to do so because people would detect her accent. There was one notable exception in the early 1960’s when a half-professional theater in Vienna, Va., staged an Agatha Christie murder mystery. A major supporting role was an Irish live-in servant – a role they couldn’t fill. Kristjana agreed to take the part, so they changed the role to a Swedish servant. She won the prize for best-in-play. And, as many attendees commented, she didn’t miss on the accent even once!