Frances Ellis Winter Brookings, 44-7 | April 12, 2018

WASP Frances Ellis Winter Brookings, 100 years old, died at Forest Glen, Springfield, Ohio, on April 12, 2018. 

'Fran' was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1917, the fourth child and third daughter of Maude Elizabeth Baker Winter and Francis Ellis Winter. At an early age, her family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where she lived until 1934 when she moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

She was educated at Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas; Oklahoma College for Women (now known as Oklahoma University of Arts and Sciences at Chickasha, Oklahoma); and Louisiana State University where, at age 59, she earned a Master's degree in Library Science. She lived in Shreveport, Louisiana for over six decades and in 2008 moved to Springfield. 

During World War II Fran earned a pilot license and, completing all requirements, was accepted as one of the 103 trainees in WASP class 44-7.  September 8, 1944, after successfully completing over seven months of Army Air Force flight training, Fran and 58 of her classmates graduated, earned their silver WASP wings and became Women Airforce Service Pilots -- the first women in history to fly America's military aircraft.   

Following graduation, Fran's official Army orders sent her to Columbus Army Air Field, Columbus, Mississippi as part of the Flying Training Command's 30th Army Air Force -- 2112th AFBase Unit.  While there, she would have flown AT-10 flight testing missions as well as ferrying, utility and administrative missions.  For that service, Fran and her WASP sisters were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.  It is the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow.

Following WWII, Fran married H.N. Kinney Brookings and they began their life together.  From 1970 to 1982 she was employed by the Caddo Parish Schools (Shreveport, LA) as an English Teacher and Librarian. 

Fran was a member of North Highlands United Methodist Church (Shreveport, LA) and, more recently, High Street United Methodist Church. She was active in many civic, church, and philanthropic activities, including the United Methodist Women, P.E.O. Sisterhood, Women's Auxiliary of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Retired Teachers' Association, and Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority. 

Fran was predeceased by a son, Nason Brookings, and her husband H. N. Kinney Brookings. She is survived by a daughter, Deborah Brookings Norberg (Reg) of Surprise, Arizona; two sons David Brookings (Kay) of Kansas City, Missouri, and Jeffrey Brookings (Allison) of Springfield, Ohio; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. 

Fran's family would like to express their gratitude to the staff of The Legacy at Forest Glen for taking such good care of our mother these past four years. A celebration of Fran's life will be held in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she lived most of her adult life and, with Kinney, raised her four children.

Respectfully posted from the Springfield News-Sun / Apr. 22, 2018 with additional WASP facts and photo added by Wings Across America.  God bless all those touched by the life of this wonderful WASP.

Ethel Louise Jones Sheffler, 44-W-5. |. June 5, 2018

"I got bit by the (flying) bug. When I got down, there was no way they could keep me on the ground."

        WASP Ethel Louise Jones Sheffler

The youngest of 6 children, Ethel Louise was born on January 20, 1921 to Ralph and Carrie (Auer) Jones.  Growing up on her parents' farm in Heyworth, IL, she spent her time outdoors, doing farm chores and enjoying nature. 

In 1936, Ethel saw an ad in the paper about sightseeing airplane rides given by the Hunter Brothers. She spent $1 on that first flight, and always remembered seeing the fields and corn being detasseled from above. After a single flight, "I got bit by the bug. When I got down, there was no way they could keep me on the ground." 

She worked several jobs to save money for flight lessons and took her 1st lesson on July 23, 1942. When the Women Airforce Service Pilots were formed a year later, she had already logged 173 flight hours.  She applied and was accepted into WASP training, paid her way to Sweetwater, Texas and arrived at Avenger Field, in December of 1943 as a member of the WASP training class of-W-5. After completing seven months of Army Air Force Flight training, Ethel and 71 of her classmates graduated and earned their silver WASP wings.  

Ethel received Army orders to report to Gunter Army Air Field in Gunter Alabama.  There, she flew engineering test, utility, and administrative flights as well as instrument flight instruction until the WASP were disbanded 20 December 1944.    She would log over 500 hours in the next year.  During that time, she would have flown BT-13's, AT-'6's, AT-10's and UC-78's.  

Following her military service, she continued as a flight instructor and charter pilot at airfields in IL, NJ, and TN.  She was a role model for many aspiring pilots, male and female, who continued on as professional as well as recreational pilots. In 1950, she was invited to vacation in Sao Paolo, by friends who were living in Brazil. A blind date led to marriage to Ira Sheffler, and she remained in Brazil for several years. 

Their first daughter, Sue, was born in Brazil. By 1953, the young family had moved to central NJ, where daughters Sandy and Linda were born. 

In the mid-1950s, Ethel became the 7th woman in the world to obtain her helicopter rating and is a charter member of the Whirly-Girls.  Traditional expectations restricted her ability to fly openly, but she still flew secretly. She wrote a piece she called "Homesick Angel" about feeling stranded from her passion, flight. In 1960, she threw off the bonds of tradition and returned to flying full time as a chief instructor and charter pilot while raising her 3 daughters. She also worked at a printing shop to support the family. "She used her skill, passion and free access to planes to teach each daughter to fly - in fact, we were not allowed to get our driver's license until we had our pilot's license." 

In 1972, she returned to the Midwest, based first at the airport in Galesburg IL, followed by a few years in Columbia TN, and finally in Bloomington IL. Upon retiring as a flight instructor at the age of 83, with over 25,600 flight hours, she moved to Appleton WI to be closer to her daughter, Linda. Over her years as a pilot and as an adventurer, she flew to 49 states (all but Hawaii) and traveled to all 7 continents. 

Ethel Louise Jones Sheffler died on June 5, 2018, surrounded by family. "We will miss our humble, strong-willed, independent, curious, nontraditional mom. She raised us surrounded by books, nature and a wide variety of music. As often as she could, she took us on adventures to woods and gardens, historical sites and factories to see how the world worked."  

She was an active Girl Scout leader, 4H leader and volunteered at the local mental health facility. In Appleton, while she was able, she volunteered at the Paper Discovery Museum and Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust. 

Ethel is survived by Sue Sheffler (Rob Meier) and their children Andrew and David Meier and Justine Sheffler, Arlington, MA; Sandy Sheffler (Mike Dooley) and children Joylyn and Alana Cordak, Woodstock, GA; and Linda Sheffler (John Thompson) and children Skylar Thompson (Carrie Berg) and Lauren Thompson of Appleton, WI.

Ethel chose to donate her body to the Medical College of Wisconsin to contribute to the knowledge and skills of doctors. At her request, there will be no public service. 

"A tremendous Thank You, from our mom and her family to the staff at the Heritage and most especially the CBRF for your kindness, care, compassion and friendship to our mom.  Life wasn't always easy, but it was always interesting. May you return to the wide open sky that you love."

______________________Quotes from Ethel's daughtersOriginally published in Appleton Post-Crescent on June 10, 2018Respectfully edited and posted with additional WASP information and photo by Wings Across America.  May God bless this high-flying, inspirational WASP and all of those touched by her passion to serve and to soar.

Florence Shutsy Reynolds, 44-W-5 | March 15, 2018

"My favorite word?  Oh, honor. That to me is more than a word.  

That’s a way of life.  I mean, I’d die for honor.  

That sounds melodramatic maybe, but, that’s how I feel."

WASP Shutsy Reynolds

Pioneering woman pilot, silversmith, lapidarist, silk screener, airbrush artist and humanitarian Florence Shutsy Reynolds took her last flight on March 15, 2018, her journey complete, her mission accomplished.  

She gave the very best of herself and her talents to lift other people by sharing her message of honor, patriotism, friendship, kindness, generosity, and compassion.  The world may be a little less bright today, but her legacy lives on through all of us who loved her.  We will never, ever forget her.

Florence Genevieve Shutsy was born ninety-five years ago to John and Anna Shutsy in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. She was the youngest of four children (brothers A.J. and Irvin and sister, Eleanor). Eventually, the young family began raising poultry, and young Florence was given her first job: taking care of thousands of young chicks.  

From her earliest memories, Shutsy dreamed of flying. Perhaps it was watching the mail plane pick up the mail by flying low over 2 poles to 'hook' the mail.  Once she saw that first airplane, she began making models (the kind you cut out with a razor blade).  Her collection grew to hundreds.

She loved to tell the story of her dad asking the kids what their dreams were, as they sat around the dinner table.  When he told her she was still a little too young, she replied, "I'm gonna learn how to fly!"  Laughter rang out.  Years later, she still smiled when she teased them, because she did what she said, and none of them could remember anything they said. 

She saved up her pennies, bought Roscoe Turner's famous book on Aerobatics and studied it front to back.  She didn't understand it all, but she was learning, always learning, about flying.

She graduated High School in 1940 and began saving for college.  On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  Like all of America, the small town of Connellsville was deeply affected, as young men signed up to do their part.  

"There was this surge of a patriotism…I mean I grew up learning….by the time I was 5 years old I learned how to salute. We all did.  We put the gold star out for my uncle that was killed in world war I…and we had the old uniform. We read the old letters.  I grew up on patriotism."

She immediately took a job in Pittsburgh and started business school.  Factories were desperate for workers, and her skills at computing payroll eventually landed her the job of head of the payroll department. She was only 19.   

She saw an ad in the paper for the last class of non-college students for the government-run CPT (Civilian Pilot Training) program. "You had to be 18, so when I filled out the application and the medical doctor was filling it out, he said, you realize that you have to be 18 for this, and I said, Yes sir, I do."  Technically, she didn't actually lie, but she corrected the record as soon as she turned 18.

After completing ground school, Shutsy took the civilian pilot written test and scored in the top two.  The top five students had been promised a scholarship for flying lessons, but she was told, "There's a war on and you're a girl."   She began a letter-writing campaign and, eventually, was awarded the scholarship.

"By the time I got it, I was all by myself in this group.  I remember getting into this J-3 cub-- first time I’ve ever crawled into an airplane.  I thought it was gonna shake itself apart. I loved every minute of it!  My first flight was my first lesson.  I still have the logbook where he checked off my attitude, my coordination, my eagerness...I go thru it every now and then to see just how eager I was.  Eagerness was always a high mark."

After her solo, her sister, Eleanor, saved money to help pay for Shutsy's flying time. Every Sunday, her dad would go up with her.  Once she built up enough hours,  she applied for the Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force.  She was too young.  It was then that she learned about the women's training program in America.

Still too young to apply for the WASP, she began writing Jacqueline Cochran a letter every week, and every week, a letter would come in reply: "You're too young."  When she found out the WACS had lowered their age limit, she made sure Miss Cochran knew and, eventually, she received a telegram ordering her to report to Harrisburg for a physical. As she later recalled, "I was in 7th heaven!"

After the interview, physical and tests, she was accepted into class 44-W-5, paying her own way to travel to Sweetwater, Texas in December of 1943.  On June 27, 1944, Shutsy and 71 classmates completed seven months of Army Air Force flight training and graduated, earning their silver WASP wings. After graduation, Shutsy's orders sent her to Merced, California to the Basic Flying Training school, where she flight tested BT-13's and AT-6's.

"If airplanes underwent maintenance, especially overhauls, engine changes, or any major changes, they would have to be test flown before the male cadets could fly them.  That was my job as a WASP." 

After the WASP were disbanded on Dec. 20, 1944, Shutsy became part of the Army Air Communication Service, the Air Rescue Service, the Weather Station and Army Technical Group out of the Anchorage and Alaska district.  She served as an instructor in Link Trainers. While in Alaska, she met her future husband, Lyle A. Reynolds.

On July 7, 1949, she joined the USAF Reserves as a 2nd Lieutenant.  Her first assignment was Langley Field, Virginia.  She was promoted to First Lieutenant and assigned to headquarters Air Reserve Center in Denver.  In November 1952, she married Lyle and they lived in the Panama Canal Zone for the next 16 years.  While in the Canal Zone, she was assigned to the USAF Reserves, Caribbean Air Command and was promoted to Captain in October 1956.  She resigned her commission in October of 1960.

During her time in Panama, Shutsy began to blossom as an artist and silversmith.  Together, the young couple began to enjoy lapidary.  By the time they left Panama, they had completed a specially commissioned coral and bloodstone heart for a fifteen foot cross for the Episcopal Church of Panama. 

Lyle chose early retirement and the couple moved back to Connellsville following a serious illness and the death of her father.  They began a jewelry workshop as a hobby and eventually, turned it into a jewelry shop.  Following the death of her husband in 1988, Shutsy became more involved in the National WASP WWII Organization and volunteered to take charge of the WASP WWII Stores.  

Shutsy spent the next 20+ years in her shop in Connellsville creating and reproducing beautiful silver wings and wing jewelry to help share the history of the WASP.   Her 3' x 12' airbrushed banners were each created especially for WASP and visitors to sign at airshows and aviation events across America.  

During her tenure at Stores, she designed the WASP WWII Flag, which was voted OFFICIAL WASP WWII FLAG by the WASP organization.  She also created the WASP SCARF, which is still worn proudly by WASP across the country.  In 1994, Shutsy designed the WASP 50th Anniversary commemorative medallion, the WASP WWII collectible pin and in 1998, the logo for the Kids of the WASP.

For her service to her country, Florence Shutsy Reynolds was awarded the

American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.  She was also awarded an honorable service lapel button and Woman’s Army Corps Service Medal.  She was a ground instructor certified in Link trainer, navigation, meteorology, aircraft, and engines.

She was a proud member of the Daedalians and in 1999, she was inducted into the International Forest of Friendship.  

She was elected Vice President of the National WASP WWII in 2004 and served until 2005, when she became acting President until 2006.  In 2007, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania honored her for being the first female to earn her pilots license. In 2010, Shutsy and her fellow WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their service to our country during World War II. (It is the highest honor our US Congress can bestow.)

In 2011, the Falcon Foundation nominated Shutsy for the Connellsville High Hall of Fame, and in 2016, The Connellsville Airport Terminal was renamed “Shutsy Reynolds Terminal”.

Shutsy was a member of St. Johns Church in Connellsville. She could hear the bells from her front door. 

Along the way, Shutsy made many, many friends...never, ever met a stranger...and spread joy and boundless enthusiasm.  She did it with honor and integrity, with kindness and with courage through some pretty tough health challenges.  

She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Anna, her husband, Lyle Reynolds, brothers Louis (Mary), Irvin (Annabelle), sister Eleanor (Henry) Michalowski.

Those surviving to honor her memory include nieces and nephews Bonnie (Edward) Franko, Jerry (Kathy) Shutsy, Cindy Shutsy, Nancy (Dave) Felcher, Carl Shutsy, Janet (Kerry) Barvincak, grandnephews Scott and Christopher and grandniece Brandy (Paul).

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Shutsy’s memory to the Animal Protective League of Cleveland, where she rescued her beloved puppy, Cesar or to a charity of your choice.

Respectfully written by Nancy Parrish, with quotes from the Wings Across America's interview with Shutsy Reynolds.  

___________________________

Personal Note:

If kindness, curiosity, humility, humor, generosity, persistence and honor could be rolled up into one person, it would be Shutsy Reynolds.  Those words are synonymous with the gentle, yet spunky lady pilot from Pennsylvania who blazed a trail and raised the bar.  

She was my friend, our champion, our first supporter as we began Wings Across America. I could never repay her kindness, but I was excited to use her likeness and her quote on the walls of our "Flygirls of WWII" WASP Exhibit.  I designed it to be six feet tall because to me, all the WASP are larger than life.   

I will miss her.  I will miss her encouraging voice and her unique, soft chuckle when she laughed.   But I am so grateful for the joy of knowing her and so honored to have called her my friend.  She still is.

I remember the old Indian legend her husband told her about.  When lightning strikes from the cloud to the ground, if you look quick, you might see what is waiting for you in eternity. For Shutsy, she was hoping for a Stearman with her name on it.  She added that she might want to renegotiate for an AT-6.  

As a Jesus follower, I am certain my friend, Shutsy Reynolds, is flying high in whatever plane she chooses from her brand new hangar full of planes.  

Fly high, my friend.  We are all better because we knew you.

God bless all of the those touched by this extraordinary woman. 

Nancy Parrish


              "Humility comes before honor."   Proverbs 18:12



More on Shutsy:

SLIDES

ARTICLES & VIDEO

• USAF VETERAN'S DAY 2015
• FLYING HIGH
• FEMALES FLYING ON THE WWII HOMEFRONT
• ARMY CHECK PILOTS
• SHUTSY MAKING WINGS--LOST WAX PROCESS
• 
  

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.

_____________________________

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.  

Meriem Roby Anderson, 44-W-4 | January 5, 2018

"I was crazy about flying and as a little kid, even through grade school, I built model planes."

                   WASP Roby Anderson, 44-W-4 

Meriem Lucille Roby Anderson lived her life as a feisty, independent Flint Hills rancher up until a few months ago, when she suffered a debilitating fall.

The 96-year-old was tough as nails and had spent a lifetime creating a legacy. She was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, an elite group of more than 1,000 women who flew aircraft during World War II.

She died Friday, January 5, 2018, at the Greenwood County Hospital in Eureka.

________________________________________________

Mrs. Anderson was born July 12, 1921, in Eureka, Kansas. Her parents – E.C. and Leota Roby – had means. She attended elementary and high school at Mrs. Harris’ School for Girls in Miami Beach, Fla., where her parents lived during the winter. 

The Robys would return each summer to their Flint Hills ranch. According to her daughter-in-law, Madeline Anderson, the first winter a young Meriem stayed in Eureka, she helped train 400 head of horses to send to the Army in France.

“I wanted to fly ever since I was a little kid,” Mrs. Anderson told the Eagle in 2004. “My parents weren’t real happy about it, but they felt differently after I got my wings.”

WASP took the same ground school and flight training as the men, except for combat flying. They flew aircraft from factories to overseas bases, towed targets for live anti-aircraft practice, transported cargo and test-flew repaired planes at U.S. bases before they were turned over to the male pilots. It was a select but dangerous duty. Of the 1,074 women who passed all the training, at least 38 were killed in the service.

Mrs. Anderson was stationed at Enid Army Air Base in Oklahoma, test-flying trainers after they had been repaired or worked on for any reason. 

Unlike other women’s branches of the service, WASPs were slow to be recognized as members of the military instead of civil-service employees. In 2010, Anderson and about 200 other WASPs went to Washington to receive Congressional Gold Medals for their service.

At the end of the war, when the WASPs were disbanded, she married Alexander “Harry” Anderson Jr. in Kansas City on Dec. 31, 1945. They lived on her family’s ranch, calling it the “Dead End Ranch.” 

Her passions were flying and animals; big band, reggae and steel drum music; and watching “Gunsmoke” and “Walker, Texas Ranger” reruns.

“There were no Hallmark movies with her,” Madeline Anderson said.   She raised appaloosa horses, buffalo, chickens, guineas, and peacocks and had 17 cats and 34 dogs.

Throughout her life, she faithfully maintained her ties with the other WASPs, returning each Memorial Day weekend to Sweetwater, Texas, where a museum to them had been established. 

“You could tell when these women got together — from a distance, they looked like these silver-haired ladies with walkers and wheelchairs,” Madeline Anderson said. “But when you listened to them, they were just a bunch of pilots sitting around. The ones that knew each other insulted and loved each other. She had great camaraderie with them and they meant the world to her.

“The one thing that endured in her life was that she was a WASP. She was most proud of that and we would drive from Eureka to Sweetwater each year where we had wonderful times. She was part of those scrappy few who still got together.”

Mrs. Anderson was a life member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, the Women Military Aviators Association and the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots.
She continued flying until the 1970s.

She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Madeline Anderson of Boulder, Colo.; friend Larry Richardson of Eureka; and granddaughter, Theresa L. Anderson.

Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. on Tuesday at Greenwood Abbey, Greenwood Cemetery, in Eureka. Col. Marilyn Jenkins of the United States 

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials be made to the Greenwood County Hospital or the Kansas Humane Society. Contributions may be sent in care of Koup Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 595, Eureka, KS 67045, which is overseeing arrangements.

Posted as written by Beccy Tanner: 316-268-6336, @beccytanner
and as published in the Wichita Eagle

Photos added from Wings Across America

Personal Note:

WASP Roby Anderson was just plain one-of-a-kind. Daughter of a Texas Ranger, she was a true cowgirl who fell in love with flying!   

We were honored to visit her at her beautiful Dead End Ranch in Eureka, Kansas.  We watched as a small herd of beefalo came to the fence to say hello.   She was a bit camera shy and wasn't too excited to share her story...but she did. She didn't think it was that important.  It was.  She was.  

She had a quiet sense of patriotism and a deep love of her country and the women she served with. In Roby, there was pure joy.  She loved to laugh, and when she talked about flying, her face lit up and her eyes just sparkled.

What an honor to know her and call her friend.  

God bless all of those touched by this amazing, joyful woman.

Respectfully,

Nancy Parrish

Gloria Whitton Heath, 44-5 | December 16, 2017

"When I was a freshman at Smith (College), my brother, then enrolled in his university's CPTP program, had talked his instructor into taking me up.  The brief flight set the course for my future."

                  WASP Gloria Heath


Aviation pioneer and longtime Greenwich, CT resident, Gloria W. Heath, passed on peacefully at her home on Saturday, December 16, 2017. She was 95. 

Gloria was born in New York City to Royal Vale and Lillian Hart Heath in 1922.  She graduated from the Putney School in Vermont in 1939, and Smith College in 1943, where she was a competitive and dedicated three-sport athlete, playing basketball, ice hockey, and lacrosse as an undergraduate at Smith. 

She went on to compete nationally and internationally in Women's Lacrosse. In 1951, she traveled to Great Britain as a member of the touring team. Gloria also served as President of the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association, and she was inducted into the Inaugural Class of the Smith College Pioneer Athletic Hall of fame in 1971. In 2006, she was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. 

While Gloria was at Smith College, her older brother, Royal, encouraged her to fly. He was taking flying lessons at the time and had his instructor take her up in a plane. Her love for flying was so great, that she encouraged 14 other women attending Smith College to take flying lessons also, and they all bought a plane together. Eventually, Gloria founded the Smith College Flying Club, and by the time she graduated in 1943, she had obtained her pilot's license.

Dedication of the Smith Flying Club airplane "Bird of Paradise"
Dec. 1941.  Center, wife of Smith College President.
to her right, Gloria Heath, with a sash.

When America entered World War II, Gloria was able to combine her love for flying and her love for her country.  Upon graduating from Smith College, she applied for and was accepted into the Army Air Force Flight Training program for women pilots (WASP).  She arrived at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas along with 132 other hopeful young women pilots.   Only 72 young women, including Gloria, completed the seven months of training, graduated, and earned their silver WASP wings.  


Gloria's army orders sent her to Freeman Army Air Field in Seymour, Indiana to fly AT-10's as an engineering test pilot.  Soon, she was transferred to Pocatello Army Air Base in Pocatello, Idaho, where she flew B-26 tow target missions.  She was the only WASP on the base.  Her last assignment was Dalhart Army Airfield, Dalhart, Texas, where she flew with the 2nd Air Force from the 12 December 1944 to 20 December 1944 when the WASP were disbanded.

Richard R. Hatton, supervisor, Bell Helicopter Training
and Gloria Heath, April 11, 1947

At the end of WWII, Gloria began working in the field of Aviation safety, becoming a founding member of the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit organization which encourages aviation safety around the world. She wrote a manual for pilots instructing them on how to ditch a plane in the water with the least damage to the plane. Her devotion to flight safety spanned more than two decades. In 1965, she became the assistant director of the Cornell-Guggenheim Safety Center, and in 1968, she founded her own search and rescue consulting company, SAR-ASSIST. She was an innovator, and she became a major contributor to the development of the satellite-based search and rescue system. 

Gloria Heath and her Congressional Gold Medal

In recognition of her significant contributions to flight safety, she received the Amelia Earhart Award in 1957 and was awarded the Laura Tabor Barbour International Air Safety Award in 1965. She was inducted into the Women In Aviation International Pioneering Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2001, was listed as one of the 100 most influential women in aviation by Women in Aviation International.  

In 2010 Gloria, along with all the Women Airforce Service Pilots, was awarded The Congressional Gold Medal, highest civilian honor that Congress can bestow,  for her wartime service. 

In 2010, Greenwich, Connecticut's First Selectman, Peter Tesei, issued a proclamation making May 11 Gloria W. Heath Day in Greenwich.  In 2012, Gloria was chosen as an Eagle by the USAF Gathering of Eagles Foundation.

Gloria Heath with Col Leo Thorsness, Medal of Honor
and fellow Eagle, class of 2012.

Although Gloria's life had been filled with outstanding accomplishments, she remained a humble, and deeply caring and giving individual, who sought only to help others. She was predeceased by her brother, Royal Vale Heath, Jr., and is survived and will be greatly missed by all her beloved friends who feel very blessed to have known her and to have shared in different parts of her life journey. She will remain an inspiration to young women as a pioneer for women in aviation.

Funeral arrangements were conducted privately by Coxe & Graziano Funeral Home, 134 Hamilton Avenue, Greenwich. Memorial donations in her name may be directed to First Church of Christ Scientist Greenwich, 11 Park Place, Greenwich, CT 06830.

Respectfully reposted from the Greenwich Time, with additional WASP information and photos by Wings Across America

Personal Note:  Gloria Heath was one of the most softspoken, humble, kind WASP I've ever met.  What an honor to have known her and traveled with her.  She was always surprised by anyone wanting her autograph but was always willing to spend the time to lean in, smile, and make new friends.  What a joy she was.

God bless all of those who knew and loved Gloria and to those who will long be inspired by her passion for aviation safety.


More on Gloria:

Higher Purpose

Women's Aviation Pioneer - Gloria Whitton Heath

A WASP and So Much More