Margaret E. 'Marge' Neyman Martin, 44-7 | January 29, 2017

"When I heard about the WASP program, I decided I wanted to learn to fly, which meant cashing in my bonds and taking leave from work." 

                          Marge Neyman Martin, 44-7 

Margaret E. “Marge” Martin, long-time resident of Oak Harbor, passed away January 29, 2017.  She was 95. 

Marge was born September 21, 1921, in Saratoga, WA. to George and Elva Neyman.   She graduated from Sequim High School at age 16 in 1938.  After graduating business college in Tacoma, Washington, she began working as a secretary for Standard Oil Company.  

Learning of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) training program, she earned her private  pilot license in Spokane and applied to the program.  After passing the required tests and personal interview, Marge was accepted as a member of class 44-7, paying her way to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas.  Of the 98 women who entered training with Marge, she was one of only 59 who graduated, September 8, 1944. 

She earned her silver WASP wings and received her Army orders, sending her to Douglas Army Air Field, Douglas, Arizona.  While at Douglas, WASP flew the BT-14, AT-8, UC-78, AT-9, AT-17 and B-25.  Marge's flying assignments included administrative, engineering and utility flights.

Following the deactivation of the WASP on December 20, 1944, Marge took a job in San Francisco where she met and married Paull Smyth.  They moved to Whidbey Island in 1951 where she later began her career at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.   The young couple started a family, making their home in Oak Harbor and filling it with four children and beautiful memories.  Marge later wrote:   "Our home on the water has nine acres with geese, chickens, and peacocks.  The Cascade Range fills our window with views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker, which are pure white in winter."

She worked at the Naval Air Station for 22 years, becoming secretary to the Commanding Officer before retiring.  

After Paull’s passing, Marge married C.J. “Tiny” Martin who predeceased her.  She is survived by her four children, Fred (Anita) Smyth, Oak Harbor; Gretchen Smyth, Seattle; Mitsi Vondrachek, Newberg, OR; and Paula (Dave) Bondo, Mill Creek, WA; as well as four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.  

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Nature Conservancy or the Sierra Club.

_____

Respectfully posted with permission from her family.  Additional information included from Marge's entry p. 458, "Out of the Blue and Into History" by WASP Betty Turner.

WASP Eileen Wright Ferguson, 44-W-7 | December 10, 2014

"My mother had an amazing memory for facts and details.  She could converse about Latin, opera, or horticulture, then turn around and name her students from all her years and their parents, sisters and brothers, then tell you about her travels naming sights, histories, the food, the people, and a plethora of detail on a vast range of subjects."             
             /s/ Scott Ferguson

Eileen Elizabeth Wright, daughter of Joicie Fay Wilson (Wright) and William Henderson Wright,  was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 11, 1920. 

As a young girl growing up in Baltimore, Eileen was bright and active.  Her mother fashioned her daughter’s  handmade dresses with matching bloomers underneath, because the young girl loved doing handstands.  

During 4th and 5th grades, Eileen was moved ahead of her class, skipping several semesters of school.

After graduating from high school, she worked for an insurance company and attended secretarial school, eventually taking a job with Baltimore Gas and Electric.  

When America was thrust into World War II, Eileen wanted to do more for her country, but her job was considered essential.  When her childhood friend, Lila Moore, told her about the WASP training program, the two young women began taking flying lessons on weekends until they had the required number of hours to apply for the WASP. 

After applying and passing the entrance exam, the physical exam, and the required personal interview, Eileen and Lila were both accepted into the WASP training program as members of WASP Class 44-W-7.

In February of 1944, one of the coldest winters in West Texas history, the two friends, together with 101 other hopeful young women pilots, arrived in Sweetwater, Texas.  Over the next seven months, Eileen completed WASP training and graduated on September 8, 1944.

Eileen's Army orders sent her to Columbus Army Air Field in Columbus, Missouri, where she reported for duty with the 30th Flying Training Wing, which was a   part of the Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command.  There she flew AT-10's (flight testing, ferrying, and as an administrative pilot).  

Eventually, Eileen was sent to Avenger Field for advanced training.  She remained there until the WASP were disbanded on Dec. 20, 1944.

Although her Christmas that year was sad, Eileen remained hopeful, applying to 30 different airlines for a flying job.  Unfortunately, the only job she was offered was as a basic flight simulator instructor.

In 1948, on a cross-country trip to California, Eileen decided to enroll at Pasadena City College.  She soon earned her Associate's Degree.  After graduation, she enrolled at UCLA, where she earned her B.A. Degree in Education, with a minor in Latin.  In 1950, she began teaching school at Repetto Elementary School and continued her education at Cal State.  Eventually, she earned a Master's Degree in Education.

As a teacher, Eileen was free each summer to travel, which is one of the reasons she chose teaching as a career.  On one of her trips, she met and fell in love with artist Ben Ferguson, a decorated, medically retired WWII Army Captain, at a local art show.   After dating for several months, they were married at the American Cathedral in Paris in 1956.  

Eileen eventually returned to the US to begin teaching again.  Her husband,  Ben,  joined her in California for a short time.  Scott Todd Ferguson, her only son, was born in August, 1959,  Soon after, the couple divorced.

For three decades, Eileen Wright Ferguson served as a teacher:  16 years of first graders, one year of teaching combined 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades,  and thirteen years teaching 2nd graders.  At one point, she was chosen the “Southern California Representative for the National Education Association”.   

As her son, Scott, said:

"She had an amazing memory for facts and details.  She could converse about Latin, opera, or horticulture;  then turn around and name her students from all her years in teaching and their parents, sisters and brothers;  then tell you about her travels-- naming sights, histories, the food, the people, and a plethora of detail on a vast range of subjects!  She also had a sharp wit with a ready wry comment.  She was interested in Art, Science, and Current Events;  was a voracious reader;  she played bridge; and was a  letter writer with hundreds of friends and pen pals.”

After retiring, Eileen traveled extensively, visiting art museums, gardens, and galleries, and attending plays and operas.   She was invested in sharing the culture of her community, serving as a docent at a Pasadena museum until her health kept her from climbing stairs.    Eileen was also a life long member of the Methodist Church.

Eileen Elizabeth Wright Ferguson passed away December 10, 2014 with her son, Scott, by her side.  Her ashes will be partially scattered over her parent's graves at Woodlawn Cemetery in Baltimore, MD and inurned in a niche at Arlington National Cemetery, date tbd.

Eileen's legacy of service, not only to her country, but to her community and to the lives of countless young students she inspired with her colorful stories of remarkable things she had witnessed, will live on.

Our hearts go out to Scott and to all of those who were touched by this WASP: patriot, teacher, mother.  God bless you all.

Respectfully posted by Nancy Parrish

with Scott Ferguson 

Betty Jo Streff Reed, 44-W-7 June 22, 2013

“Never let go of your dreams.  If you have a dream, there’s no reason it can’t be fulfilled, you’ll find a way.  It’s possible, because I didn’t have much...I was a poor student and managed to fulfill my dream.  I wanted it so bad, I found a way. 

 Flying was freedom and I loved flying.”

                                                        /s/Betty Jo Reed

June 22, 2013, just two days after her ninetieth  birthday, WASP Betty Jo Streff Reed slipped away and took her final flight. 

Betty Jo was born June 20, 1923 in Sherman, Texas to John Nicholas Streff and Nellie Ruth Dilworth Streff.  Her father was a general contractor and supervisor for the Georgia Marble Company, where his work created opportunities for the young family to travel. After Betty Jo was born, the family moved from Texas to Oklahoma City and, eventually, settled outside Chicago, Illinois.

Betty Jo's life-long love of flying began when her dad shared his own love of aviation by taking the family to airshows, sometimes in a farmer's field, to watch the early barnstormers.   She remembered the planes flying by upside down and watching the wing walkers and the parachutists. 

She remembered sitting in her dad's lap at age four,  as he would read her news of Charles Lindbergh and his trip across the ocean.  From then on, every time she would hear an airplane fly over the house, she would run outside and yell,  “Hi, Lindbergh!”   

When she was six, Betty Jo's father paid $1 for her first flight in a Ford tri-motor at the Curtis-Reynolds Airport air show in Chicago.  As she later recalled, it was 'love at first flight:'    "I remember feeling free and happy and loving the whole experience.  From that point on, I knew that I wanted to fly.”

A few years later, she skipped school to watch the airplanes.  She took her bike and, instead of turning left to go to the junior high school, she turned right-- and rode nine miles out to the airport.  She spent the day standing near the runway, watching the planes take off and land.  Even though she never did it again, the memory lasted a lifetime.

Thoughout her schooling, Betty Jo struggled with an undiagnosed learning disability.  However, by the time she entered high school, she found a way to overcome every challenge with hard work, determination and a curiosity to know ‘why.‘   She became a pitcher on the girls baseball team-- a team so good, they beat the boys team.   In high school, she had a talent for art and soccer, showing up after school to play with the boys.  

When America entered World War II, Betty Jo put her plans for attending the Chicago Art Institute on hold, because so many of the instructors had signed up for military service.  She went to work for Marshal Fields and began taking flying lessons so that she could ‘do her part.’  It took half a week’s salary to pay for one hour of flight instruction with instructor Willie Clark.  Her first lesson was in a J3 Cub-- on skis.  

In 1943, she was hired by Douglas Aircraft and went to work in the tooling department. Eventually, she was promoted to cockpit installation.  While at Douglas, she saw a Life Magazine with a girl pilot on the cover.  When she read the article about WASP training program, she was thrilled and ready to sign up.

Because Betty Jo’s job at Douglas was considered ‘essential’ for the war effort, she had to get special permission to even apply for the training program.  After permission was granted, she was interviewed, passed all the required tests and was accepted for training as one of the ninety-eight women pilots in class 44-W-7.  

She paid her way to Sweetwater, Texas and arrived during one of the coldest winters in West Texas history.    Betty Jo described herself as “tall and skinny,” when she entered training.  On that  first awkward day at Avenger Field, one of her classmates affectionately gave her the nickname,  ‘Birdlegs.’  That nickname and the instant, comfortable friendship with her classmates stayed with her throughout her life.

On September 8, 1944, after seven months of training, Betty Jo and fifty-eight of her classmates graduated and received their silver WASP wings.   She received Army orders to report to the Eastern Training Command, Columbus Army Air Field, Columbus, Mississippi, where she flew Beechcraft AT-10’s and BT-13’s as an engineering test pilot, ferry pilot and administrative pilot.    

On Dec. 20, 1944, when the WASP were disbanded, Betty Jo paid her way back home and returned to a job at the Douglas C-54 plant as a test pilot.  

When an automobile accident temporarily grounded her, Betty Jo married Carl W. Reed.  They were blessed with two  boys and two girls.  

In 1957, the young couple opened the first McDonald’s franchise in Colorado--which was the third McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S.  A year after the birth of their fourth child, Betty Jo began flying again.  She earned her rating to fly Lear Jets and the King Air.   As their family business grew to ten McDonald’s,  eventually, she became a corporate pilot.  

Betty Jo competed in six Power Puff Derbies, winning a “Best in Class” from Flying Magazine.  She was a member of The Ninety-Nines, Inc., The Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, WMA (Women  Military Aviators) and the Air Force Association.   She served as President of the Phoenix Wing of the American Aviation Historical Society and was a docent at the Champlin Fighter Aircraft Museum in Mesa, Arizona.

In 1999, Betty Jo was inducted into the International Forest of Friendship and in 2010, she and her sister WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow, for their pioneering military service during World War II.

Betty Jo is survived by daughters Melissa Reed of Aurora, Colorado and Sally Reed of Dallas, Texas; son John Reed of Deer Lodge, Montana; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.  Her husband Carl Reed, son, Guy Reed, and two sisters preceded her in death.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, June 29th at 10:00 AM at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1270 Poplar Street, Denver CO 80220. 

 Respectfully posted by Nancy Parrish

sources:

Wings Across America’s Interview with Betty Jo Reed, Nov. 12, 2001

“Out of the Blue and Into History” by WASP Betty Turner  pp 465, 466

US Air Force News:   1/16/2006   

Denver Post, June 30, 2013

Personal note:

I met Betty Jo Reed for the first time in November of 2001, when mom & I traveled to Arizona to interview WASP for our Wings Across America project.  Betty Jo had agreed to meet us at one of her favorite places, the Champlin Fighter Aircraft Museum.  She was almost more excited about showing us all the wonderful airplanes than she was in talking about her life.  She was kind and so generous with her time, never complaining that we continued talking through lunch and into the afternoon.  In fact, we rolled tape until the museum staff had to lock the building up.  It was a delightful interview.

Betty Jo was a WASP who traveled to every WASP convention, the huge airshow at Oshkosh, to the Frontiers of Flight Museum when the WASP were honored on Veteran’s Day, 2009 and to Washington, DC  when the WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.   She was always upbeat, despite the health challenges and the battles to survive over the last few years.  She never gave up and always lifted those who were concerned for her. 

In September of 2012, Betty Jo called to see “what was going on.”  We chatted for a few minutes and then I asked her how she was.  That is when she shared that she was ‘not doing good,” and then immediately changed the subject to ask how mom and I were doing.  

Her question was so typical of this sweet lady, who has touched so many with her courage and her cheerful spirit. She spent only a moment on herself and then she asked how we were.  When I asked a few more questions, she shared her sad news about her fight with a second, much more deadly cancer than the one she successfully battled not long ago.  

During our interview in 2001, we asked Betty Jo, other than her family, what was the one thing she was most proud of?   Her reply:  “I’m most proud of my flying accomplishments.  I think that if you were to talk to some of the men that I flew with as a corporate pilot, they were surprised and proud.  In fact, they had bets on how long I’d last.  It made me proud of what I was doing.  I hand’t been very proud in my schooling--didn’t have much else to measure other than that.  I was very proud of my ability to fly.”

It was an honor to know Betty Jo...to laugh with her and listen to her stories.  She will be missed by all of us whose lives were touched by her gentle and encouraging spirit.  God bless you all.

Nancy 

         

WASP Justine Fletcher Woods, 44-W-7 May 26, 2011

 Justine Fletcher Woods, better known as “Fletchie”, passed away in her sleep at home in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 26.   She spent her life with her best friend and husband of 62 years, Ransom (Bud) B. Woods, Jr., traveling around the world together courtesy of the United States Air Force.

Justine was a Congressional Gold Medal recipient for her service as a Woman Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) during WWII. Of the 25,000 women who applied for this newly developed women's service program, she was one of only 1,074 who graduated.  She flew for the Army Air Force during the last year of the war flying twin-engine UC-78s and AT-6s military planes as a test pilot and training cadets.  The program was disbanded by the end of 1944 and not until 1977 were the women finally given military recognition. In March of 2010 the WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as the first women in history to fly American military aircraft.

With the disbanding of the W.A.S.P., Justine joined the American Red Cross to drive a 2-ton truck, the Clubmobile, through war-torn Europe taking coffee and donuts to the boys in the fields. This began a long association as a Red Cross volunteer.

Throughout her life she continued to volunteer through the Red Cross as a swimming and a sailing instructor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Justine was always the tomboy and sport enthusiast, playing golf, tennis, sailing and swimming. She took much pride in her role as a water safety instructor and used this avenue to teach swimming for nearly 50 years with the Red Cross. Justine was also a Red Cross sailing instructor with a group of women called the “Wet Hens” teaching sailing to other military wives while stationed in Hawaii.

Justine received her B.A. from Wells College in Ithaca, New York in 1939 and M.A in education from University of Southern California. She also earned her private and commercial pilots licenses.

Justine married “Bud” right after World War II ended and traveled 30 years with the US Air Force. They moved every three years to new assignments throughout the US and the world. In 1975, upon “Bud's” retirement from the Air Force, they enjoyed life between homes on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, Sun City West, AZ, and Aspen, Colorado, where they had great pleasure snow skiing, golfing, and playing bridge with wonderful friends.

Justine is survived by her son, Ransom (Randy) B. Woods, III and wife, Jeanne; daughter, Lynn Severin and husband, Brian; six grandchildren: Robin Woods Strecker and husband, Peter; Greg F. Woods and wife, Connie; Louis, Baird, and Tyson Severin; Melissa Severin Bruhn and husband, Ray: and, five great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be forthcoming at the Snowmass Chapel in Snowmass Village, Colorado at a time to be determined.

Reposted from the Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Links and photo respectfully added by Nancy Parrish

Cindy "Jes" Wiesner, daughter of WASP Sunny Miller Burril, 44-W-7

It is appropriate on these pages that we post this sad notice, for the daughter of WASP Sunny Miller Burrill, Cindy "Jes" Wiesner died Tuesday after a battle with cancer.

If optimism, kindness and compassion were the kind of weapons that could have been used, she would have won that battle, hands down.
Her passing is the kind of sad news that I find hard to write. The last time I saw her was at the WASP Convention in 2008. She was so full of life and so happy to be there.
My first introduction to Cindy was thru a web page at 'twiceblessed.us' -- I thought at the time -- what a grand thing to be--twice blessed. She was. And she blessed those whose lives she touched. Her 'green mountain gal' online name revealed her love of the outdoors and the

fact that she wasn't afraid to be called a 'gal.' Perfect.

Cindy was passionate about life, blue skies and her mom, WASP Sunny Miller Burrill, 44-W-7. In fact, I think they are together in almost every photo. She loved to travel with Sunny as they re-traced many of the historic places her mom had flown as a WASP. What journeys they had together-- I remember when she took her mom to the newly opened WASP musuem in Sweetwater. It was Sunny's birthday, and she called me to make sure the museum knew about it. I tipped them off, and they threw Sunny a surprise party. Cindy was thrilled.

Cindy traveled with Sunny to every WASP convention--and, at that last convention, she helped create a wonderful event to fly the WASP back to Avenger Field. "OPERATION FIFINELLA" was a huge success--and, for the first time in her life, she got to fly in an AT-6 -- on her mom's wing. God bless the pilot who made that happen. Cindy was just thrilled. Typical of Cindy--there is really no information about her on the official Operation Fifinella website--only that she is a co-organizer with her friend, Susan King.

I cannot imagine a world without her enthusiasm and her smile. Cindy participated in my video when I asked the WASP kids to describe their WASP mothers in three words or less. Cindy's word for her mom? Charming. That is one word I would absolutely use to describe Cindy. It is in the genes.

Cindy was absolutely charming.

What a loss...what a life...

My last email from Cindy was was about the bill to honor the WASP. She sent it on March 20: "working on this just trying to get the info to my Senator now. Huge task knowing you are behind it gives me amazing hope, I will send it to all! Love Cin and Su"

Amazing hope. That is what we should all have. Amazing hope.

God bless Cindy and her family.

With respect and love,
Nancy Parrish, proud daughter of a WASP

WASP Mary Catherine Quist Edwards, 44-W-7

WASP Mary Catherine Quist Edwards passed away on Saturday, April 4, 2009.

There was a short notice published in the Austin American Statesman on April 6, 2009:

EDWARDS, Mary Quist, 86, of Victoria, formerly of Austin, died Saturday. Services 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Cemetery, Pflugerville. Arrangements by Cook-Walden/Chapel of the Hills.

____

Nowhere does it say who she was or what she did. However, information will be posted as it is made available.

In the meantime, here are a few pieces of her story.

Mary Catherine Quist was a WASP--a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, first women in history to fly America's military aircraft.

Mary Catherine entered WASP training from Austin, Texas. She traveled to Avenger Field in west Texas in February of 1944 to join the class of 44-7. She graduated and earned her silver WASP wings on September 8, 1944. From Avenger, she was sent to Blytheville Army Air Field in Blytheville, Arkansas. At this base, WASP flew engineering test flights and as instrument check pilots, utility/administrative pilots, they ferried aircraft to storage and conducted flight checks on returning overseas pilots. Aircraft at the base included the B-25 (co-pilots) and the AT-10.

I met Mary Catherine at the ceremony in Galveston, Texas to induct the WASP of Texas into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. She wore her medal and seemed very proud and honored to be included. I only met her for a moment.

God bless Mary Catherine and her family--and all the WASP.