In October 2019, a bronze bust of Potter created by renowned artist Douglas Van Howd was placed in Auburn’s Armed Forces Pavilion and Community Garden.

AUBURN, CA (MPG) – Retired Rear Adm. Bonnie Potter spent nearly three decades breaking barriers in Navy medicine, eventually becoming the first female physician in the U.S. Navy to be selected for flag rank.

But since retiring from active duty more than two decades ago, Potter has built another legacy much closer to home — serving veterans and the greater Auburn community.

In recognition of that service, Potter has been named grand marshal of this year’s Auburn Veterans Day Parade.

A native of Piedmont, Potter graduated from UC Davis in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in animal science. After completing medical technology training and graduate studies in animal physiology at UC Davis, she attended Saint Louis University School of Medicine on a Navy scholarship, earning her medical degree in 1975.

That same year, she entered active duty as a Navy lieutenant and began a career that would eventually place her among the trailblazers of military medicine.

Potter completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Naval Regional Medical Center Oakland, serving as chief resident from 1978 to 1979. She remained there as a staff internist and residency training officer until 1983.

Over the following years, Potter combined medicine, teaching and military leadership. Her assignments included Naval Hospital Portsmouth in Virginia, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Potter served as head of medical services aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort, deploying in support of the military operations from 1990 to 1991.

After two decades as a clinician and teacher of internal medicine, Potter moved into executive medicine and increasingly senior leadership positions.

She served as commanding officer of Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton from 1995 to 1997. Then came a milestone not only for Potter, but for Navy medicine.

In 1997, Potter was promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first female physician in the Navy to be selected for flag rank. She later received her second star as rear admiral.

Potter went on to command the National Naval Medical Center and serve as chief of the Navy Medical Corps. In December 1999, she reported as fleet surgeon for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, with additional duties as command surgeon for U.S. Joint Forces Command and medical advisor to Allied Command Atlantic.

Her military honors include the Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with gold star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with gold star, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal and Combat Action Medal.

In 2000, the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine presented Potter with its Laureate Award in the U.S. Navy Region, recognizing her commitment to education, research and medical care.

When Potter retired from active duty in 2003, however, her life of service did not end.

She and her husband, August, moved to Auburn and established Fair Winds Alpacas on their North Auburn ranch. Potter also became deeply involved in the region’s veterans’ organizations and community activities.

Her extensive list of local service has included positions with American Legion Post 84, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 904, the Placer County Navy League, Fleet Reserve Association and the Placer County Auburn Veterans Memorial Hall Board.

She has also served as treasurer of the Auburn Veterans Day Parade Committee, co-chair of Congressman Kevin Kiley’s Service Academy Review Committee and commander of the Auburn Area Honor Guard.

Each Memorial Day, Potter volunteers to lead ceremonies at four Auburn-area cemeteries.

Her community involvement extends beyond veterans’ organizations. A certified Placer County election inspector since 2008, Potter has also served as volunteer faculty at the UC Davis School of Medicine and on the Northern California Retired Officers Community Board of Directors.

Her work in the alpaca industry became another chapter in a career marked by leadership. Potter served six years as president of the Alpaca Owners Association Board of Directors, and her contributions to the agricultural community earned her the James G. King Industry Award.

In 2012, she received the Daughters of the American Revolution Ellen Hardin Walworth Medal for Patriotism and the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her work with the Sacramento Medical Reserve Corps.

Auburn also gave Potter a permanent place among those honored for their military service. In October 2019, a bronze bust of Potter created by renowned artist Douglas Van Howd was placed in Auburn’s Armed Forces Pavilion and Community Garden.

Potter’s selection as grand marshal recognizes a career that has taken her from Navy hospitals and medical classrooms to the USNS Comfort and some of the highest levels of Navy medicine.

But it also recognizes what came afterward.

For Potter, retirement became another opportunity to serve, this time in the Auburn community she and her husband chose to call home.