Carla Howard Horowitz, 44-W-8 | February 19, 2018

“It seemed to me that there were very clear issues in World War II, and I wanted to be part of it...to tell the truth, I really wanted to be a hero.”

           WASP Carla Howard Horowitz

Carla Howard Horowitz was born May 28, 1922, in Chicago.  It was there she began her schooling until her second year of high school,  when she attended The Edgewood School, in Greenwich, Connecticut. This was a small co-ed boarding school (a shocking concept in 1936). 

She returned to Chicago for her freshman college year at Northwestern University and then transferred for her next three years to the much smaller Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. (Gym was skiing from September through April.)

In her senior year, she joined the Civil Air Patrol, where she had some ground school, but never flew. When she graduated from college, she applied to the WASP, was accepted, and in March, 1944, traveled to Sweetwater to enroll in the class of 44W8. About half of her class washed out, so she felt very lucky to receive her silver wings in September 1944.

She was assigned to Blacklands Airforce Base in Waco, Texas, where she flew as an engineering test pilot until December 20th, 1944, when the WASP program was terminated. She felt the women were told, in effect, that there were now enough male pilots and they were no longer needed. It is noteworthy also that the women service pilots were paid less than the men.

After the WASP were deactivated, Carla moved to New York City where she worked in publishing for a number of years as assistant editor of Black Mask and Dime Detective, classic pulp publishers of Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, etc. After that, she worked at Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & Beane in the public relations department and later became a financial reporter for their publication Investor's Reader.

Carla married Milton Howard in 1947, and she and her husband adopted two children. She stayed home with son James and daughter Emily until 1965 when  Milton was diagnosed with cancer, and it became clear that she would have to earn a living. She went back to school, at Columbia University, earned an M.A. in remedial reading and then went into private practice. She sought further training in administrating and interpreting psychological tests and was a much sought-after psychoeducational evaluator as well as a remedial therapist. 

Carla was known as a superb teacher of children with learning disabilities, making the practice of necessary skills enjoyable through a multitude of ingenious, self- invented games as well as through the very real pleasure she took in engaging with her students.   With intellect and heart in equal measure, little escaped her interest, curiosity, or ebullient enthusiasm, from the cultural offerings of her adopted New York City to the science and wonder of all aspects of the natural world. 

In recent years, she shared an office with her psychoanalyst husband.  They both retired in 2006...she confessed that she loved to tell people she worked until she was 84. Her husband died in February 2011.

Her deepest affections were reserved for her family and many dear friends - love that was returned in spades. Carla is survived by a son, James, a daughter, Emily, and her 'darling grandson', Arlo Johnson. Life will not be the same without her.

She was asked many times why she joined the Airforce and became a pilot and her response was always along the lines of, “It seemed to me that there were very clear issues in World War II, and I wanted to be part of it...to tell the truth, I really wanted to be a hero.”

Respectfully, compiled from notes from Carla and official posting online.  Photo from Wings Across America.

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Personal Note:  I always looked forward to hearing from Carla. Our email correspondence spanned 15 years.   Her emails were always gracious, kind, and encouraging.  Her gentle spirit lifted so many, including me, and I'm so grateful for her friendship.   She absolutely fulfilled her mission to be a hero.  The WASP not only paved the way for other women pilots who followed, they freed up male pilots to fly combat missions.  May God bless her family and all of those whose lives she touched.  

WASP CATHERINE ANN MURPHY, 44-W-1 Jan. 29, 2012

WASP Catherine Ann Murphy passed away on Sunday, January 29, 2012.

Catherine was born on December 8, 1916, to Edward and Catherine Murphy, in St. Paul, Minn.  She graduated from high school in Minneapolis and immediately went to work.    In the fall of 1942, she went flying for the first time with an instructor named Hank, and from that moment on, she was  obsessed with flying.    She soled in 7 1/2 hours off a grass strip,  and as she continued flying, she learned of the Army Air Forces flying training program.  She applied,  and when she was accepted into the class of 44-W-1, she paid her way to Avenger Field to learn to fly 'The Army Way."

After successfully completing the seven months of training, on February 11, 1944, Catherine and 48 other young women pilots from her class (of 101) graduated .  Her class was the first  to graduate wearing the official 'Santiago Blue' WASP uniform.

Catherine's official Army Air Force orders sent her to Gardner Field, California, where she flew as an engineering test pilot.  From Gardner, she was sent to Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas, where she completed basic instructor training.  She returned to Gardner as a basic training flight instructor and ferry pilot.  She remained at Gardner until the WASP were disbanded.

After her service as a WASP,  she was  hired as an instructor at Western and Compton Airports, California.  She sold her '42 Buick, bought a Stinson SR-5, and began a charter service, flying passengers from Los Angeles to Albuquerque,  and Kansas City to Minneapolis.  Eventually, she sold her Stinson and went to work for the City of San Gabriel Valley, California as City Treasurer. 

Catherine organized the California Municipal Treasurers Association,  which eventually grew to become the Municipal Treasurers Association of the US and Canada, and was also a director on the Board of the League of California Cities.  She eventually became  City Treasurer and Chief financial officer for the city of Arcadia, Calif., where she worked for 27 years.

In 1972,  Catherine rekindled her love of flying, flying a Piper Arrow to the WASP Reunion in Sweetwater, Texas.  From that flight, she renewed old WASP friendships and ‘took to the skies’,  flying to WASP reunions and spending vacations flying in Arizona, Colorado,  and even Alaska.

In 1979,  she joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP)and became a Mission Pilot, flying search and rescue missions.  She later went on to become Squadron Commander and Finance Officer for the California Wing of the CAP and Mission Coordinator/Mission Control Officer.  During her active duty time with the CAP,  she was the designated person for the Air Force to contact to organize all search missions in the State of California.  She searched for missing aircraft, flew cadets on orientation rides, transported emergency services personnel, transported dog teams for missing persons searches,  and flew missions for the Customs Services and Drug Enforcements.

From 1984 to 1986, Catherine served as  Treasurer of the National WASP organization. Her proudest accomplishment was transferring all the WASP records from paper to computer.  She remained vigilant, making sure newsletters,  and records,  and the official WASP Roster was current and accurate.

Catherine met the stiff requirements  for the UFO's,  "United Flying Octogenarians."   (Current FAA physical, current biennial and a solo flight after turning 80)  She spent her last few years volunteering with AARP, doing income taxes for the elderly and volunteering for the Community Service Unit.  In 2005,  she moved to Jacksonville, Oregon.

Catherine was preceded in death by her parents, Catherine and Edward Murphy; brothers, Edward Murphy, and Roderick Murphy; and sister, Marquerite Veady. She is survived by her sisters, Patricia M. Paulsen, of Mariposa, Calif., and Fidelis Powers, of Sweetser, Ind.; also numerous nieces and nephews.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2012, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Jacksonville, Ore., at noon.                 

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Catherine Murphy was a 'doer'.  She was always involved, busy, and willing to work hard to make a difference.  She used her talents for finance and  flying-- for leadership and service.  What a legacy for such an  extraordinary woman-- a WASP of WWII!

God bless her family and all those whose lives she touched. 

“Fly high, Catherine...and rest well.”





Respectfully written by Nancy Parrish