February 9, 2026
Y-e-s. It’s a simple, three-letter word that defined Regina Muldoon’s life.
Yes to a road trip to Canada with her dad to see a Smashing Pumpkins concert and fish along the way. Yes to dropping what she was doing to help a friend stranded on the side of a road. Yes to the 6 p.m. screening of Taylor Swift’s Life of a Showgirl with her mom, even though she’d already seen the movie earlier that day. And yes to people—loving, accepting and caring for them, no matter their circumstances or background.
Regina grew up in Omaha, the youngest of Bill and Mary Muldoon’s two daughters. Her family describes her as a free spirit who splashed in mud puddles as a kid. She loved music and animals and had a strong Catholic faith. Open Regina’s trunk and you’d find an axe and camping chairs, always on standby for her next outdoor adventure.
She was unapologetically herself, and people naturally gravitated to her.
Regina earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and shortly after, followed in her sister Patty’s footsteps, pursuing a degree in nursing.
Early in Regina’s nursing career, the sisters worked together in the ER at CHI Health Lakeside. Patty warned her sister about the challenges she would face as an ER nurse and encouraged her to harden her heart.
“We’re going to see some stuff,” Patty says she told Regina. “You’ve got to protect yourself. But she didn’t listen. And I’m kind of glad she didn’t. Because that’s what made patients really love her.”
Patty says Regina loved people, and she had an uncanny ability to connect with those she cared for.
In one memorable experience, a frequent patient of the ER came in confused and combative. Patty’s first instinct was to give the patient time to calm down, but Regina had her own plan. She entered the patient’s room, phone in hand, and started playing music from Dave Matthews Band and dancing around the bed. The patient’s demeanor softened, allowing Regina and Patty to draw blood and begin treating him.
It was the same love of people that later drew Regina to serve with the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. She immersed herself in the people and the culture and was invited to participate in native rituals.
