WASP Final Flight

 WASP Deanie Bishop Parrish, 44-W-4

"Failure isn't failure unless you let it be. 

 It's simply a change in direction. 

 Just count your many blessings move on. 

 With God's help, anything is possible!"

Deanie Bishop Parrish passed away peacefully in her home in Waco, Texas, on February 24, 2022, just one day shy of her 100th birthday. She met every challenge of her century-long life with spunk, determination, persistence, humor, kindness, integrity, steadfast faith, and a sparkle that lit up the room. 

 

She was born Marie Odean Bishop on February 25, 1922; in a boxcar just off the main tracks in Defuniak Springs, Florida; to Jacob Ambus Bishop and Anna Ellen Bell. Nicknamed Odie, she was the middle child of seven brothers and sisters. In 1927, the family moved to the tiny town of Alturas in central Florida, where Odie followed her big sister to the one-room schoolhouse. Later that year, the family moved 30 miles south to the larger town of Avon Park. Odie again followed her sister to school, but the teacher said she was too young. Yet, her mom insisted the teacher test the young girl. Odie passed and began first grade a year and a half early. For the next 12 years, she never missed a day of school and graduated in 1939 as the Valedictorian at Avon Park High School. There may have only been 30 in her class, but she always said, “I’d still have been the Valedictorian even if there were 300!”

 

During the Bishop’s early days in Avon Park, they lived in a wooden-floored tent about four miles outside of town. When Odie was six, her family was fortunate to survive the Great Okeechobee Hurricane, now called Florida’s deadliest natural disaster. The young family took shelter in a cinder block home. The infamous Florida hurricane destroyed everything they owned except the family clock. It was found in a tree over a mile away.

 

While in high school, the five-foot-tall Odie played center on the basketball team until the team began traveling and she had to go to work to help support the family. By day, Odie was a bookkeeper and teller at the local bank, and by night, she was the cashier at the local movie theatre. When World War II started in Europe, the United States designated Avon Park as home to one of the hundreds of primary schools set up across America for young men to learn to fly. Young Odean, no longer called Odie, met the instructors as they cashed their checks at her bank. Convinced she was just as smart, if not smarter than the young cadets, she found an instructor and began taking lessons. Her first solo flight experience, taking off in a Piper Cub, was a harrowing one. Controlling the plane from the backseat as you do when you first solo, she was climbing to altitude and the control stick came off in her hand. She didn’t hesitate for one second as she tore her seatbelt off and climbed over the front seat just in time to keep the plane from stalling and crashing. Her instructor watched the whole thing from the ground and swore to himself if Odean made it down alive, she would never fly again! But when she finally landed safely and the stunned instructor found out why she landed from the front seat, he told her, “Now you know! You have the right stuff to be a pilot!”  Her death-defying “stick story” made the local paper and subsequent publications later in her life.

 

Once America was thrust into WWII, Odean packed up and headed for Houston, Texas, found a job in a bank, and continued flying. After earning enough money to buy a third share in an airplane, she began flying with the Civil Air Patrol, patrolling the coast for downed aircraft and submarines. In 1943, she heard about the WWII Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) training program, and on her 21st birthday, she applied. She was granted an interview with the head of the program, Jacqueline Cochran.

 

Thus, she boarded a train to Fort Worth, Texas, passed her interview and all tests, including an Army physical, and was accepted into the WASP Class, 44-W-4. She then paid her way to Sweetwater, Texas, and from November 1943 to May 1944, she trained to fly ‘the Army Way.” Following graduation, she was sent to Greenville, Mississippi, to fly as an engineering test pilot. After a brief check out with a twin-engine aircraft, she was assigned to transition to fly the B-26 twin-engine bomber at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. After completing the training, the Army kept her at Tyndall as an air-to-air tow target pilot to train B-24 gunners for combat. One B-24 pilot, Bill Parrish, who had just returned from evading capture after being shot down over Yugoslavia became the “love of her life.” He nicknamed Odean “Deanie,” a name she cherished the rest of her life.

 

The WASP disbanded on December 20, 1944, and Deanie and her older sister moved to Langley, Virginia, where she challenged the U.S. Air Force to hire her as the first civilian chief aircraft dispatcher. They did, and in June 1946, Deanie and Bill were married. Months later, she followed him to the Panama Canal Zone. With Bill gone much of the time, she was hired as personal private secretary for the director of operations for the 6th Air Force.

 

For the next 20 years, Deanie was a proud Air Force wife. She followed Bill on his assignments as they started their family. Their first daughter, Nancy Allyson, was born at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. Their youngest daughter, Barby Anna, was born near Tachikawa Air Base at Tokyo General Hospital. Eventually, the Air Force sent the family to McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey; Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; and finally, to Ellington Air Force Base, Texas, where Bill retired. 

 

In 1975, with two daughters in college and after thousands of hours volunteering at Houston Baptist Hospital Southeast, Deanie decided to do what she couldn’t’ do when she finished high school. Four years later, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Houston.

 

Bill retired from his second career in the real estate business in 1981, and the couple moved to Waco, Texas, to be near their grandchildren. Deanie began volunteering for Historic Waco and the Waco Welcome Corps. When she wasn’t spending time with her grandchildren, which was her favorite thing, she and Bill cruised the country in their motor home on mission trips. In 1992, Deanie wrote “We Got the Stuff, the Right Stuff,” the only WASP rap song, for the 50th Anniversary of the WASP. Unfortunately, her Bill passed away in 1993.

 

With the encouragement of her daughter, Nancy, Deanie agreed to volunteer as the Assistant Director of Wings Across America, a project created to educate and inspire generations with the history of the pioneering WASP. Deanie and Nancy began a 24-year journey of interviewing and sharing the inspirational stories of more than 100 WASP. In 2003, they co-founded the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas. Deanie became an inspirational speaker as she continued to share stories about the WASP and helped lobby for the Texas WASP to be inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2007, Deanie and Nancy created a traveling FlyGirls exhibit for the Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. Deanie also began a campaign to lobby Congress to award the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal. At the official ceremony in 2010, Deanie proudly represented all WASP as the featured speaker at the ceremony where key U.S. Senators and the House Speaker presented the WASP with this well-deserved medal.

 

Deanie Bishop Parrish was a life-long Southern Baptist and a long-time member of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church. She served as secretary of the National WASP WWII organization, was inducted into the 99’s International Forest of Friendship, accepted the WASP Congressional Gold Medal, and also received a second Congressional Gold Medal for her service with the Civil Air Patrol. In 2011, she was honored as an Eagle in the Gathering of Eagles program at Maxwell Air Force Base, forever commemorating the heroes of our U.S. military. She was a proud Alumni By Choice of Baylor University, and as a pinnacle achievement, alongside her daughter, Nancy, she was inducted into the National Women in Aviation Pioneering Hall of Fame in 2015.  

 

For Deanie, there was never an idea that was too big. Ensuring the WASP were in the history books was indeed a lofty goal, but she reached it. She raised the bar and challenged others to do the same. From learning to fly when women didn’t do that, to flying military aircraft to support WWII, to fighting for the Congressional Gold Medal that recognized the women who made such an impact…Deanie Bishop Parrish lived a blessed life that proved with God, nothing was impossible. She would challenge you to carry on that torch!

 

She was preceded in death by her husband, William Allison Parrish, daughter Barby Anna Parrish Williams, brothers HL, Willie J, Edward James, and sisters Ruby Lucille and Louise. Left to honor her memory are daughter, Nancy Allyson Parrish; grandson, Brady Williams and wife, Kimberly Williams; granddaughter, Brook Henry and husband, Michael Henry; her great-grandchildren Logan, Jonah, Charley Ann, and Jack; son-in-law Dale Williams, and brother Walton Bishop. 

 

A private graveside service with military honors will be at Waco Memorial Park on March 4, 2022, as Deanie requested. The family invites you to sign the guest book at Wilkerson Hatch: 6101 Bosque Blvd. Waco, Texas 76710, beginning Wednesday morning, March 2 at 10 am. You are welcome to leave a message or memory on the “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.

 

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to whatever touches your heart in memory of WASP Deanie Parrish. You will be helping your worthy cause, and in naming your honoree, you will be educating America. If you prefer, you may donate to the “Wings Across America Project” @ Baylor University. https://bbis.baylor.edu/give 

 

LINKS:

Great Okeechobee Hurricane https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-1928-hurricane-story.html 

Video: The Stick Story https://vimeo.com/106602305/4ef5e2f96c

WASP Rap Song http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp/songs/rap.htm

Eagle Deanie Parrish https://goefoundation.org/eagles/parrish-deanie/

Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony https://vimeo.com/106629651

Women in Aviation International Pioneering Hall of Fame: https://www.wai.org/pioneers/2015/deanie-

Deanie Parrish--Wings Across America http://www.wingsacrossamerica.org/about.html

Video: We Got the Stuff:   https://youtu.be/RFPJ9xUrnno

Personal note:

I've always said that mom raised the bar so high, I would have to learn to fly to clear it.  I'm so grateful for her presence and partnership in my life. Her belief in me and in the Good Lord made me think bigger and do more than I ever thought I could. Of course, I absolutely believe that God's in charge, and He certainly has been.  Just look what blessings overflowed in Deanie Parrish's life!   Mom was an igniter...with just a word, she could start a virtual fire of enthusiasm and accomplishment.  May God bless all of those who have been touched by this mighty woman of faith and determination.  You can truly accomplish anything with God's help and just a little bit of mustard seed faith.  

For more information, please google Deanie Parrish and just look at how God has truly blessed her and the WASP.  So, go,  Do.  Make a difference in whatever you choose.

Mary Jo Farley Tilton, 43-4 Dec. 2, 2012

Reposted from the Corpus Christi Caller:

MARY JOSEPHINE TILTON

Lt. Col. Mary Josephine Farley Tilton USAF retired, passed away Sunday evening the 2nd of December 2012 in Corpus Christ.

Josephine (Mary Jo) was born in Aransas Pass, Texas on the 18th of January 1922. While in kindergarten she saw a WWI era biplane with a machine gun mounted behind the propeller and told her mother 'I want to be a pilot.'

She started taking flying lessons after graduating from Aransas Pass High School in 1940, while attending Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos. She worked as a cashier at the Rialto Theater while in Aransas Pass to pay for flying lessons from Frank Smith and flew out of cow pastures near the carbon plant between Aransas Pass and Rockport. The day she passed her tests and received her private pilot license in Corpus Christi, she flew her grandmother, Alice Eleanor (Curry) Farley back to Aransas Pass as her first passenger.

Mary Jo working on an aircraft engine in 1943

Mary Jo began working as an aircraft engine mechanic at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station after the war began in 1941. Soon she became a Link Trainer Instructor, teaching instrument flying. When a hurricane in 1942 disrupted communications along the Texas coast, she was assigned to fly messages from Corpus Christi to Houston at the request of Western Union.   At the end of 1942,  she  received a letter from Jacqueline Cochran about a new program for women pilots in Sweetwater, Texas under the supervision of the U.S. Army Air Forces. called the Women Airforce Service Pilots, W.A.S.P.   These were the first US women military pilots. Air Force Secretary, Michael Donley described them as 'trailblazers' and said from their time forward 'women would forever be a part of United States military aviation.'

There were 25,000 women that applied and Mary Jo was one of the 1074 that were accepted and graduated. She arrived at Avenger Field in February 1943. She successfully completed the training and received her wings as a member of the class of 43-W-4 on the 7th of August 1943. This was the first class to start training and graduate at Avenger Field in Sweetwater.

Mary Jo's first assignment was with the 5th Ferry Group at Love Field, Dallas. She was stationed in Sacramento and Victoria as well. She also towed targets for target practice. She was transferred to the U.S. Army Navigation School in San Marcos in September 1944 where she trained navigators on training flights.

She continued serving in San Marcos until the WASPs were deactivated in December 1944. Hap Arnold, Commanding General of the USAAF, in 1944 said to the WASP, 'you can fly wingtip to wingtip with your brothers. If ever there was any doubt in anyone's mind that women can become skillful pilots, the WASP have dispelled that doubt'I salute you and all WASPs.'

It was not until 1977 that Mary Jo and the WASP received veteran status for their service in WWII.
The United States Air Force offered the WASP commissions in 1950 and Mary Jo accepted a commission as 1st Lieutenant. She was recalled to active duty in 1952 because of the Korean War. She served as Assistant Base Adjutant at Furstenfeldbruck Air Base in Germany, later with the 322nd Air Division at Wiesbaden, as well as at other bases in the states. She retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1982 after 25 years of active and reserve service with the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Mary Jo was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame in 2004 for her service in the WASP. President Barack Obama signed Public Law 111-40 on July 1st, 2009 awarding W.A.S.P.  the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor awarded in the United States.  Mary Jo received her medal in 2010 but was unable to attend the ceremony at the United States Capitol.

Mary Jo was proud to have served with WASP, especially the recognition received from those that followed the trail that she helped blaze. Col. Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot a space shuttle (Discovery) and first woman space shuttle commander (Columbia) said, 'The WASP were and still are my role models.' Lt Col. Nicole Malachowski, the first woman Thunderbird pilot, said 'I know I was able to be a woman fighter pilot'and a woman Thunderbird pilot because of the WASP.' She said they 'redefined what's possible for women who want to serve their country.'

Mary Jo worked with American Airlines at LaGuardia, in New York as well as in El Paso, Syracuse and San Diego after WWII, but was not allowed to be a pilot because she was a woman. She loved flying and found other ways to satisfy that desire including flying with an air circus. She had many exciting flying experiences and adventures to fill her memories.

Mary Jo received her B.S. in Education from Midwestern University in 1965. She taught in elementary schools until she retired from the school district in Mary Esther, Florida.  She was always an avid collector with many interests.

During her retirement she remained active with arts and crafts, and at 75 she was still playing tennis and collecting speeding tickets. Prior to complications with Alzheimer's and return to Texas she had been a member of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Chapter No. 202 order of the Eastern Stars, Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.

There has always been a smile on Mary Jo's face and she laughed at her problems. She will be missed by those that knew and loved her.

Mary Jo was preceded in death by husband, Master Sgt. Forrest Glenn 'Jim' Tilton, her parents, Cyrus Eugene and Ann Pricilla (Sorell) Farley, her brother Milton Eugene Farley, and sister Roberta Cecile Melson. She is survived by her sister, Anna Louise Baker of Corpus Christ and nieces and nephews.

Graveside Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 7, 2012 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

She requested that donations be made to the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina or the Shrine Crippled Children's Hospital in lieu of flowers.

Originally published Thursday, December 06, 2012
Respectfully edited for accuracy and photos added by Wings Across America

Tex Amanda Brown Meachem, 43-W-7 July 5, 2012

Tex Amanda (Brown) Meachem

I believe what my mother always told me, "Honey, you can do anything you want to do.
You just have to want to do it and go for it!"   WASP Tex Meachem

Tex Meachem took off on her final flight on July 5th in the care of Vitas Hospice of Florida at John Knox Village, in Pompano Beach, Florida. She was 94 years old.

Tex Amanda Brown, named after her grandmothers, “Texanna” and “Amanda,” was born in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb 4, 1918.  A few months later, the young family moved to Winter Garden, where Tex completed all her schooling, graduating as the Salutatorian from Lakeview High School. 

After loosing her father to a heart attack when she was 16, Tex changed her college plans to be close to home, entering Florida State Collage for Women in Winter Garden.  She majored in Economics and worked at the State of Florida Department of Education.  She graduated with her degree and a teaching certificate and went to work full time for the State.

In 1939,  she was hired by the Dean of the Business Administration College at University of Florida. While working for the Dean, Tex signed up for the CPT program and learned to fly in order to cut her 2 hr. travel time to the beach. Soon after joining a flying club and getting her license, she volunteered to do the books for the Civil Air Patrol in Sarasota, Florida, in exchange for flying time.  Tex spent a year in Sarasota,  flying active duty, looking for submarines in the Gulf of Mexico.

While flying with the CAP,  Tex learned of the experimental women’s flying training program. She applied and was accepted into the class of 43-7 along with 101 other young women pilots. She paid her way to Avenger Field to join the training program.  Only 59 of the women graduated, earning their silver wings on November 13, 1943.

Tex was sent to Hondo Army Air Base as part of the  Training Command—Navigation school at Hondo, Texas.  There, her mission included flying C-45’s with navigation students plotting the courses and flying co-pilot on C-60’s.  While at Hondo, Tex fell in love with navigation instructor, John Meachem.  As she described their courtship: "We danced a thousand miles to 'Begin the Beguine'."

After five months at Hondo, she was transferred to the ferry command.  She traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, where she was kept busy, ferrying trainers to bases all over the US as well as flying salvage flights with war weary Piper Cubs. 

 After months of non-stop ferrying, Tex gave up flying to marry John Meachem, the man she described as 'the love of her life, on July 14, 1944.  After the war, they settled in Manilus, New York where  their growing family eventually included three daughters.  

Once her third daughter started school, Tex enrolled in Syracuse University, where she earned a Masters in Library Science.  After graduating, she  worked as a high school librarian in the East Syracuse-Minoa School District until her retirement in the late 70s.  While in Manilus, Tex remained very active in the Christ Episcopal Church.

In 1979, when John and Tex retired, they moved to Mount Dora, Florida, 26 miles northwest of Orlando and 25 miles from where she grew up. The Florida girl had come home.   She and John were married 47 1/2 years and had 12 1/2 years of retirement before he passed away in 1991.

In 2001, Tex moved to John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, to be closer to her daughter. She was very active in her community, serving as a Resident Senator, and working on the Activities Committee and the Food Committee. She particularly enjoyed serving as a mentor to new residents when they first arrived at JKV, helping them to get acclimated, meet people, and discover the variety of activities available to them.

In March, 2010, when the WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, in recognition of their service to the country, Tex was present for all of the ceremonies.  A few weeks later she was given the opportunity to fly once again in an AT-6 Texan, which had been her favorite plane to fly as a WASP.

Tex is survived by two daughters, Margaret Josephine of Buffalo, NY, and Lucinda Brown (Sutton) of Coconut Creek, Florida, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Tex was preceded in death by her husband John in 1991 and youngest daughter, Melissa Donne (Corvez) , 1994.

 

Wings Across America was honored to interview Tex on May 3, 2003 in her Florida condo. It marked Wings Across America's  100^th Interview.  

 What a joy to listen to Tex describe her colorful life, her love of flying and her love of living life to its fullest.  Although I remember the entire interview,  a few things stand out: 

• Her grandfather had the best slopped hogs in the county
• She was the first girl in her high school to take physics
• Her first flight instructor was a cattle rustler
• She was a Southern Baptist (who became an Episcopalian) who loved to dance,
• She was a brand new member of the "Red Hat Society

I also remember that she loved to laugh.

 

I took one final picture of Tex on her balcony, overlooking her beloved Florida landscape.  Here she is, just as I remember her, standing tall in her red hat, smiling.

The best thing I remember: Tex described a few miracles in her life as times when “God winked at me.”   

He did indeed.  God bless her family and all of those who lives she touched. 

Respectfully written and posted by Nancy Parrish

(Based on Wings Across America's interview and information provided by Tex's daughter, Jo.)

July 16, 2012

 ____________________

Memorials can be directed to:

John Knox Village Foundation

651 SW 6^th Street

Pompano Beach, Florida 3360

The Foundation for End-of-Life Care
5430 NW 33rd Avenue
Suite 106
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33309

Video clip of Tex's flight in an AT-6 thanks to JKV friends and History Flight of Marathon, Florida.