WASP Margaret Ringenberg, 43-W-5

Gone West: Noted Aviatrix Margaret Ringenberg

Died In Her Sleep... At Oshkosh

by ANN Correspondent Dave Slosson

Another World War II flyer, and one of EAA's Timeless Voices, went west Monday... and from AirVenture, no less.

Margaret Ringenberg was a Womens Air Force Service Pilot in World War II, ferrying bombers, fighters, and transports overseas. She was in town to give a seminar on her experiences, and died in her sleep Monday morning.

Ringenberg announced the war's end in 1945 to Fort Wayne residents by dropping 56,000 leaflets proclaiming "Japan Surrenders!" from a plane over downtown streets. Both newspapers in the city were on strike, so a radio station hired her to make the historic "news drop." After the war, she was a flight instructor for many years, and became a cross-country air racer in 1957.

She continued to race, competing last month in the women-only Air Race Classis, flying from Bozeman, MT to Mansfield, MA, finishing third with her co-pilot, Carolyn Van Newkirk. Margaret is listed in Tom Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation," taking up an entire chapter. She gave Tom a flight lesson when he interviewed her. Brokaw said Monday he was heartbroken to hear of her passing. "Margaret was one of my favorites," he said.

Margaret never intended to be a pilot. She wanted to be a stewardess, or flight attendant as they're currently called. She wondered what would happen if the pilot needed help or became ill, so decided to do what she could to have some skills in case that happened. She quickly found she loved to fly, and another pilot was born. Roger Myers, Greater Fort Wayne Aviation Museum board member and WWII bombardier, worked closely with Margaret for many years. He said there were two rooms in her house that were floor-to-ceiling with trophies and ribbons she'd earned over the years. Yet Margaret was never one to brag, always passing herself off as another veteran who did what they could during the war. In July 2002, she was honored as one of Indiana's six Living Legends. Last summer, she was honored as a flying legend by the Gathering of the Eagles at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Alabama.

She met her husband, Morris, during the war. They were married for 56 years before he passed away in 2003. They had two children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. The couple lived in Leo, Indiana for many years.

Her daughter wrote a book about her mom, "Maggie Ray, World War II Air Force Pilot." Margaret wrote her own book in 1998 with Jane Roth titled, "Girls Can't Be Pilots."

When she spoke to a group of NASA employees a few years ago, they offered to let her try the Space Shuttle simulator. Her granddaughter, who accompanied her on the trip, said the employees said almost all pilots who were trained on it crashed a few times until they got the hang of it. Each time she tried it, Margaret landed perfectly.

I met Margaret only once, but talked to her many times via radio, pilot to controller. She was 87, and had been flying only with a safety pilot for the last several years. She was a true American hero, and just as down to earth as the land she and her husband farmed. It is so appropriate she passed away in Oshkosh. You're flying now, Margaret, and we'll see you on the other side.

Thanks to Joyce McCartney of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette for some of the facts in this story.

FMI: www.airventure.org, www.girlscanfly.net/

ORIGINAL ARTICLE ONLINE: http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=42b306a2-4eaa-4019-bd6a-db4c93b6b5eb&

Her incredible legacy:

MARGARET’S HOME PAGE: http://www.girlscanfly.net/
Memorial
A visitation and memorial service will be held from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at Grabill Missionary Church, 13637 State St., Grabill.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Aug. 5.
Arrangements by D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes.
____
How I remember Margaret--as the little girl on the cover of her book, "Girls Can't Be Pilots." Even though she was in her 80's at the time, she had that same sparkle in her eyes when she talked about flying, and if you looked close, you could almost see those freckles.

What a legacy she leaves. Family, flying, faith...
What an honor it was to have known her.

More on Margaret as it is available.

IF YOU HAVE A STORY -- OR WOULD LIKE TO SHARE INFORMATION, PLEASE POST IT BELOW.

Submitted by Nancy Parrish, Wings Across America


OTHER LINKS:
News Sentinel - Fort Wayne, IN
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Faith, family and flying

Tears, joy mix as kin, friends honor aviator

Becky Manley

The Journal Gazette

Services
• The service for Margaret J. (Ray) Ringenberg will be at 10 a.m. today at Grabill Missionary Church, 13637 State St., with visitation one hour prior. Arrangements by D.O. McComb & Sons Pine Valley Park Funeral Home.

THE FOLLOWING REPRINTED FROM THE JOURNAL GAZETTE
AUGUST 5, 2008

GRABILL – As family and friends grappled with the emotions spawned by the loss of legendary aviator Margaret J. Ringenberg, the tears often gave way to laughter as cherished memories were shared.

Family members agreed that Monday’s visitation for Ringenberg was a celebration of a life lived with determination, faith and no regrets.

Ringenberg, 87, died in her sleep July 28 while in Oshkosh, Wis., for an air show to give a presentation as a former member of the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots, or WASPs.

“I can’t think of a more fitting way for her to pass,” said Jon Wright, 33, Ringenberg’s grandson.

Granddaughter-in-law, Becky Wright, 32, said Ringenberg knew to appreciate life and its experiences – whether she was watching her great-grandson play on the monkey bars or she was flying around the world.

“So many people say live life to the fullest, and I think she realized what that meant.”

The Wrights laughed as they said they imagined when Ringenberg arrived at the Pearly Gates, she likely informed St. Peter a mistake had been made and pulled her BlackBerry out to tick off the obligations on her busy schedule.

That BlackBerry was the first thing Jon Wright said he asked for, and he carried it in his pocket while at Ringenberg’s visitation Monday, calling her a “gadget grandma.”

“The sadness is ours because we miss her,” Becky Wright said.

Grandson Josh Wright, 29, of San Antonio, said Ringenberg’s family got “so spoiled” by the frequent chances to ride with “the grandma that flies,” they would sometimes turn down flights.

Wright also confessed to the possibility he may not have waxed his grandmother’s plane as perfectly as she liked, a challenging task grandson Joe Wright, 31, learned in junior high.

“I’m certainly not a perfectionist, but I was for her,” Joe Wright said about the waxing work.

Ringenberg joined the WASPs in 1943 as a ferry pilot. After the WASPs disbanded, she became a flight instructor in 1945 and began racing in 1957.

Ringenberg announced the war’s end in 1945 to Fort Wayne residents by dropping 56,000 leaflets proclaiming “Japan Surrenders!” from a plane over downtown. Both newspapers in the city were on strike, so a radio station hired her to make the historic “news drop.”

According to her biography, Ringenberg took her first flight, from a farmer’s field, at age 7. In 1998, Tom Brokaw spent an entire chapter of his best-selling book “The Greatest Generation” on Ringenberg. She gave him a flying lesson when he interviewed her.

While so many people are familiar with Ringenberg’s flying legacy, Joe Wright said she also left an important family legacy.

Ringenberg, who told her loved ones that so many families are broken and separated, insisted the family get together for a meal every Sunday.

“She wanted us to stay together,” Joe Wright said.

Ringenberg was strong, stubborn and a woman of faith, Joe Wright said.

“She told me and she told our parents she prayed for us daily,” Joe Wright said.

Saying he believes in the power of prayer, Joe Wright said, “I just can’t imagine how our lives have been shaped (by her).”

It took no fewer than nine tables throughout the long hallway at Grabill Missionary Church and a video slideshow to share Ringenberg’s life, including her service, her racing career and her family.

Among those who attended Monday’s visitation was Dan Reed, 59, of Fort Wayne, who was taught by Ringenberg in the 1970s when he sought his commercial and instrument flight license.

While Ringenberg expected hard work from her students, Reed said she had a way of teaching – and correcting – that made him feel encouraged.

“She’d work you hard,” Reed said.

Visitors also included Susan Sears, 62, and Esther Wyandt, 74, both of the Indianapolis area and, like Ringenberg, members of The Ninety-Nines Inc. International Organization of Women Pilots.

Sears, who knew Ringenberg for about 15 years, said Ringenberg was an “accomplished pilot,” “personable,” and a “pioneer in flying.”

Both Sears and Wyandt agreed Ringenberg helped women who strived to be pilots.

“Certainly people like Margaret paved the road and made people understand women could fly.”

Halfway through Ringenberg’s evening visitation, more than 200 signatures filled the guest book’s pages.

Visitors filed passed an array of floral arrangements, including one with a card that read, “Your former student. Thanks for giving me my wings.”

Another former student, Gordon Liechty, 69, of Leo, was among the evening’s visitors.

Liechty said Ringenberg gave him lessons about 1960, and they would fly from her backyard.

Ringenberg was a “great lady” and pilot who knew her plane well, Liechty said.

“She did things out of the ordinary, things people said couldn’t be done, but that didn’t stop her.”

Farewell to a Legend

Ringenberg: Farewell to a legend

Margaret Ringenberg died in her sleep after an air show in Oshkosh, Wis.

By Jennifer L. Boen

of The News-Sentinel

Aviation legend Margaret Ringenberg of Leo-Cedarville was doing what she loved most shortly before her death late Sunday in Oshkosh, Wis. She was at the AirVenture Show, mentoring young women in an aviation program, “encouraging them to be all they could be, to not be afraid of becoming pilots. She was doing exactly what she wanted to do,” said Ringenberg's only daughter, Marsha J. Wright.

Ringenberg was 87.

From her first airplane ride at age 7, the girl with wings took to heart what she once said her father told her, “You can be anything you want to be,” and became one of the most honored female pilots in the country.

Tom Brokaw's book “The Greatest Generation” contains a chapter on Ringenberg, who began her aviation career in 1943 as a ferry pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

In 1945, after the group disbanded, she became a flight instructor, “although no one wanted to take lessons from a woman back then,” Wright said.

“Her determination. Her courage, courage that far outstrips mine, is what I'll remember,” Wright said.

On Sunday, Ringenberg had driven to Oshkosh to join other former WASP members at the air show, Wright said. When Ringenberg failed to show up for breakfast Monday, a member of the WASP group went to check on her and found she had died in her sleep.

“It is how she would have wanted it,” Wright said. “God had his fingerprints all over this.” Wright and all five of her children flew in races with Ringenberg. In 2002, Ringenberg and her granddaughter, Jaala Wright, flew to Houston, where Ringenberg spoke to astronauts at the Johnson Space Center.

As a pilot, Ringenberg logged more than 40,000 hours and raced in every Powder Puff Derby - a transcontinental women's air race - between 1957 and 1977, when it ended. She had also flown in every Air Race Classic since 1997, including the most recent just a month ago. Ringenberg and her teammate, Carolyn Van Newkirk, finished third among 30 teams, flying from Bozeman, Mont., to Mansfield, Mass.

In 1994, at age 72, she was the oldest entrant in the Round-the-World Air Race. In 2002, she was one of six people honored by the Indiana Historical Society as a Living Legend, and in March was inducted into the Pioneer Hall of Fame during the Women in Aviation International Conference in San Diego. It was one of more than 150 awards she received as an aviator, author, speaker and leader for women everywhere.

A book about Ringenberg and other WASP members, “Maggie Ray, World War II Air Force Pilot,” written by Wright, was published in 2007. Before that, Ringenberg and Jane Roth wrote “Girls Can't Be Pilots: An Aerobiography.”

Perhaps her only regret, she once said, was not being the first senior in space.

“John Glenn beat me to it,” she said. “When I saw him at Bob Dole's 80th birthday and library dedication, I told him I had a bone to pick with him,” she told The News-Sentinel in March.

Although Ringenberg's name is almost synonymous with aviation locally, Wright said her mother's life was much more than flying. She was a Girl Scout leader, band mom and member of Grabill Missionary Church.

“She did a lot of speaking and not as much flying in these last years. There were insurance issues. The companies would say, ‘You want to fly in this race and you're how old?' ” In 1998, she spoke to 1,000 Air Force Academy graduates in Colorado Springs, Colo., and at the time of her death was a speaker for NASA's Distinguished Lecture series. “Because so many people knew her, I realize she belongs to the community,” Wright said.

Ringenberg's legacy is far-reaching in so many ways, said Marilyn Moran Townsend of CVC Communications in Fort Wayne, who, along with Ringenberg, was featured in a calendar book in 2000 about Indiana women in nontraditional fields.

“I'm so saddened. I feel like we've lost an important piece of greatness that so many people in the community and in Indiana had the opportunity to get to know,” said Moran Townsend. “She achieved wonderful things early in her life in so many nontraditional ways, and she continued on doing so throughout her life. She was such an inspiration.”

In addition to Wright, Ringenberg is survived by a son, Michael J. of Leo-Cedarville, four grandsons and one granddaughter. She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Morris J. Ringenberg, in 2003.

Final salute

Visitation for Margaret Ringenberg, who died late Sunday in Wisconsin at age 87, is 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. Monday and one hour before the funeral at 10 a.m. Aug. 5, Grabill Missionary Church, 13637 State St., Grabill.

WASP Blanche Osburn Bross, 43-W-6

WASP Blanche Osborn Bross
1916–2008

Blanche Osborn Bross, born July 21, 1916, in Doland, S.D., left this world for a better one on July 22, 2008, at the age of 92. In addition to her husband of 50 years, Willis H. Bross, Blanche is survived by her son, Charles (Susan) Bross of Renton, Wash.; stepson, David (Judy) Bross of Long Beach, Wash.; and stepdaughter, Denise Bross of Redding, Calif. She also leaves numerous nieces and nephews.

In 1943, Blanche heeded the call to duty by joining the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots, WASP. More than 25,000 women applied for the prestigious WASP program but only a select 1074 graduated. WASP’s like Blanche spent countless hours training to assume piloting jobs, delivering planes from factories to their domestic bases, towing targets for gunnery practice, and training cadet pilots. Sent to Ohio to learn to fly four-engine aircraft, she learned to pilot the legendary B-17 “Flying Fortress”. Stationed at Fort Myers, Fla., she took gunners up in the air where they fired at targets towed by a B-25.

After spending close to a year at Fort Myers, Blanche and three other WASP’s were transferred to the Las Vegas gunnery school where they were used in the engineering squadron to test repaired aircraft. The program generated significant publicity during the war and Blanche was featured in a famous picture of female pilots walking away from the “Pistol Packin’ Mama”, a B-17 bomber. The photograph has since been used in advertisements for clothing lines, fashion magazines, historical chronicles and a copy hangs in the Smithsonian Museum.

After the WASP’s, Blanche joined the American Red Cross and was sent to Kunming, China. Following her tour in China, Blanche returned to the U.S. to begin a family. In 1957 she married Willis H. Bross with whom she had a son, Charles. Together they moved to Portland where they developed a seaplane flying base. Later, Blanche received a commercial pilot’s license and flew construction crews to work sites. She also spent many years as an accountant and after retirement was an avid golfer.

At Blanche’s request, no service will be held.

In lieu of flowers, any memorials be made to a favorite charity.

WASP Marjorie Sandford "Sandy" Thompson, 43-W-5

A FIRST IMPRESSION

I didn't know she was gone until today. She passed away two months ago, on May 10 in Albuquerque where she and her husband, Braxton had retired -- to be closer to their children. I didn't know--none of the WASP knew--that this wonderful lady had slipped away.

What a treasure she was, and how much I know her family will miss her. Yet, for me, she will always be captured on videotape, because that is how I met her--thru the lens of my hi-8 video recorder.

The first time I saw Sandy Thompson was at the Lone Star Flight Museum in 1996. She was sitting on the stage in a hangar right off the flightline, mic in her hand, telling a few stories of her days as a WASP. No one could tell a story quite like Sandy. Despite the wind and the hot weather, the audience was captivated.

The video is old and hand held, but her humor and her love of flying shines through.

A few years later, I was honored to listen to her in her home, as we videotaped her interview for Wings Across America. A short clip from that interview is included in Soundbytes of the WASP.
When the Texas WASP were inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame, Sandy was not able to attend the ceremony. It was a great privilege to hand carry the medal and present it to Sandy in person in 2005.
One-of-a-kind -- extra-ordinary = Sandy Thompson.
posted by Nancy Parrish
July 19, 2008

_______________________

In her own words from "Out of the Blue and Into History"--compiled and edited by WASP Betty Turner p. 164

I was born on February 18, 1915 in Peoria, Illinois. I received my private pilot’s license through a Civilian Pilot’s Training course at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. I had a share in a plane with three other pilots and had approximately 250 hours, and was teaching biology and aeronautics at Woodruff High School in Peoria, when Jacqueline Cochran Contacted me about a program training women to fly military aircraft. I took a leave of absence in case I might was out of the training.
I reported to Avenger Field March 24, 1943 and received my wings on September 11. I was sent to Love Field. I was checked out there and three weeks later received orders to report to Dodge City, Kansas, to be trained to fly the B-26 because four B-26s had crashed during that previous month, killing all those aboard, and they needed us to fly the B-26 as a morale booster because students no longer wanted to fly them. Then I was sent to gunnery school at Harlingen, Texas, to tow targets for gunnery practice, until the WASP program was disbanded in December of that year.
I married my squadron commander, Captain Braxton Thompson, and 10 days later he was sent overseas with the Ninth Air Force. He was gone 11 months. I took a six week course in aircraft accident analysis at Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I joined the Aircraft Accident Analysis Division at Training Command Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas under the command of General Barton K. Yount. I continued there until my husband returned from France in October 1945. When my husband returned from overseas duty, he bought a Beechcraft Bonanza. We joined and were active with the American Bonanza Society. We participated in group flights in this country as well as Mexico. In1973 we flew our plane to South America, down the east coast, across the Andes at 19,500 feet and back up the west coast. Our wonderful six-week trip was published in Aero Magazine in April 1974.
When our three children had finished high school and off to college, I joined the staff of The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston as Junior League Docent Coordinator. I taught courses in art history and supervised the guidance of tours for school children until my retirement at age 65. With our three children, we also have four grandchildren.

______________

SANDY THOMPSON
Houston, Texas May, 2000

"Soundbytes of the WASP"










Obituary reprinted from the Albuquerque Journal:

Marjorie ("Sandy") Sanford Thompson passed away in Albuquerque on May 10, 2008. Sandy was born Marjorie Sanford in Peoria, Illinois on February 18, 1915.

She worked as a school teacher and joined the Army during World War II as a member of the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots), flying a B-26 Marauder bomber and towing targets for student fighter pilots.

She met her husband-to-be, Braxton Thompson, at Harlingen Field in 1943 and they married on August 10 1944.

After the war they moved to Houston, Texas, where Sandy worked with the Junior League as a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts, rising to the position of docent director, and at the Bayou Bend Museum, former residence of Texas governor, Jim Hogg.

She and Braxton retired to Albuquerque in 2006. She is survived by their children, Sanford Thompson of Everett, Washington, Linsley Denning of Albuquerque, and Carter Thompson of Irving, Texas, and their grandchildren Arianne, Jay, Charles and Allison.

WASP Ruth Hagemann Wheeler, 43-W-5

Ruth Wheeler, age 93 and a resident of Dallas, passed away peacefully with her family beside her, June 9, 2008.

During WWII Ruth was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She was also a member of the African Violet Society of America and was the Sunday School Superintendent for Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas for generations of church families.

After the war Ruth raised two children and helped start a family real estate business in Dallas.

She is survived by her two children, Thomas Wheeler Jr. and Sylvia Wheeler; and leaves behind her sister, Elizabeth Clark Beazley; her two devoted dogs, Sally & Christy; and many nieces, nephews, and loving friends.

The funeral service is 2:00 Thursday, June 12 at Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, Reverend Tim McLemore officiating. Burial will follow Friday, June 13 in El Campo, TX. No visitation will be held prior to the funeral service. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Kessler Park UMC or the Dallas Zoological Society, 650 S. R L Thornton, Dallas, TX 75203.


reprinted from the Dallas Morning News, June 12, 2008

WASP Lois Boien Durham, 43-W-7

Born September 14, 1921, Lois passed away on Sunday, June 22, 2008.

The following post is "In her own words" from WASP Betty Turner's book, "Out of the Blue and Into History. (p229-230), published in 2001:

My family had been in Omaha for over 140 years. Because I did not like to go to sleep at the normal time, my father drove me to Fort Crook, Nebraska (now Offutt AFB) and let me watch the midnight mail plane come in and pick up the mail. My nose was against the fence from age one--and I'm still watching the planes (I live in the flight pattern of the long runway).

My mother was a special friend of Lt. Roscoe Turner. After WWI, Mr. Turner returned to visit the Olson family and to introduce his new bride. When I asked permission to fly, my mother called Roscoe in Indianapolis and asked him, "Is there a future in aviation for women?" He gold her, "Of course!" She told me to go ahead and fly!

I was accepted in class 43-7 and was assigned to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My next assignment was the 3rd Ferrying Group, Romulus, Michigan, and then Greenville, Mississippi.

After deactivation, I returned to Omaha in 1947 to work at Offutt AFB, then transferred to Sioux City as a personnel specialist. I returned to Omaha and worked again at Offutt until November 1951 when I resigned to get married. I met my husband, Bob Durham, through a man who worked in base supply with me. After several months of traveling, we settled in Lincoln, Nebraska. I returned to DOD as operations specialist at Lincoln AFB.

Bob had been in the Army since he was 16 years old, transferred to the Air Corps, gone to OCS (Officer Candidate School), then to flight training and received his wings in '45., We flew together as much as we could--flying parachutists, charters, 99s -- and vacations. Bob used his flying skills in his police work while in Lincoln. I was the lat civilian operations specialist and transferred to the personnel field.

During the 17 years we lived in Lincoln, we raised our six children. Peter, a Marine who served in Vietnam, is a member of the Los Angeles Police Department; David retired from the Air Force several years ago--he spent his time in command posts around Europe and USA. Philip was the stage manager for the Omaha Symphony for 13 years and rat ART TRAN, moving musical instruments and art objects. Martha, the only girl and a mother of three, has worked computers, cars (mechanic), and veterinarian supplies; Douglas works for Marriott, and Robert is an auto mechanic. There are 13 grandchildren as of today.

When Lincoln AFB closed, I worked for the Civil Service Commission in Omaha, then the Veterans Administration in Lincoln and the Internal Revenue District Office in Omaha. I retired early because of illness of my husband and learned to take care of a continuous application of renal dialysis patient. I lost him in 1982.

For the last five years, I have been actively speaking to schools, clubs, senior centers, churches, universities and WWII reunions. The highlight of my speaking engagements was going to London to talk to the Concord Dining Society of the RAF Club. The Society flew me to Heathrow and back to New York in the Concord.

I also shared the podium with Eric Brown, one of the most famous of English pilots. He appears on PBS- -and sat in my living room three weeks before the Concord event --on TV.

I have served as Regional Director of Region 2 for two terms and was Chairman of the '98 Omaha Reunion of the WASP WWII. I have attended my 55th Doane College Reunion, been recognized for Distinguished Service, had scholarships given in my name, but still cherish being a WASP more than anything.

___________
and, reprinted from the Omaha World Herald

Lois Boien Durham
DURHAM-Lois Boien, age 86, of Ralston, NE. Member of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Preceded in death by husband Robert. Survived by sister, Barbara Erickson, Edwardsville, IL; sons, Peter (Nancy) of Woodland Hills, CA, David (Joni) of Centralia, IL, Phillip (Carol), Douglas (Melody) and Robert, all of Omaha; daughter, Martha (Royal) Bush of Omaha; grandchildren; great -grandchildren; nieces; nephews; numerous other relatives and friends. Memorial Service to be held July 8, 7pm, Messiah Lutheran Church, Ralston, NE. Memorials suggested to the Lois Durham Scholarship for Women Pilots at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute. Published in the Omaha World-Herald from 6/24/2008 - 7/8/2008.

WASP Mary Catherine "Jary" Johnson McKay, 43-W-2

Mary Catherine Johnson was born on November 10, 1916 in Madison, Wisconsin. She passed away June 4, 2008 of congestive heart failure and cancer.

In her memory, the following , from Betty Turner's OUT OF THE BLUE and INTO HISTORY" allows Jary to tell her own story--in her own words.

___________________

"I got interested in flying as a member of the glider club at the University of Michigan, where I flew a single-place glider, both at Ann Arbor and at the international glider meet at Elmira, New York, in 1937. After moving to California, I took airplane lessons, earned a private pilot's license, and accumulated 60 hours of flying time.

The flying training program headed by Jacqueline Cochran required 300 hours of flying time. Dorothy Nichols and I quit our jobs and drove to Fort Worth, Texas, to finish our flying time because civilian flying was banned in California within 300 miles of the coast after Pearl Harbor. Two weeks later Miss Cochran's office called us at our motel and asked us to be in the second training class, 43-2.

After graduation, I was assigned to Romulus Ferry Base, where I ferried trainers and P-39's, P-40's, P-51's and P-63's, from factories to training bases or locations for overseas delivery. I also flew the L-5 and PT-26. Dorothy was stationed at Long Beach, California, and was later killed in a P-39.

After deactivation, I joined the Red Cross and worked on American bases spread throughout India as what was then termed a "club worker." I met my husband in India and got married and had three daughters right away. I was afraid enough of airplanes that I didn't want to be up in the air when I had little kids I was responsible for. I was a housewife for 12 years before I was divorced and had to work.

In 1982, after not flying for 35 years, I took flying lessons and reactivated my commercial license.

As a pilot for the humanitarian group Angel Flight, I now transport ambulatory patients who are in need of medical attention but unable to pay for transportation. I am also a coordinator, booking the missions. I get pilots for the missions, but you can't always get a pilot right away. They're busy guys, often out of the office. But their response is so possible. I am also a member of a flying club and own equity in two Cessna-172s.

I consider my greatest achievement to be the mother and grandmother of productive children and four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren; to have been responsible for the education of two daughters and two sons-in-law in the value of freedom and some of the means of its implementation. If our civilization ever recovers from its current degeneration, they will be in some small way partly responsible for it."

from "Out of the Blue and Into History" by Betty Stagg Turner. P. 53.

Services will be private—

Jary’s legacy will go on -- in the lives of those she touched with her service, her dedication and her love.
This WASP made a difference in many lives…and she will be missed.

posted by nancy parrish, june 11, 2008