WASP Frankie Yearwood, 44-W-10

Frankie Yearwood was a precious lady, a WASP that we were proud to call a 'friend,' although I don't really think Frankie ever met a stranger.  She embraced people as friends, and there were many, many friends.  She passed away on Sunday, May 30, 2010, after loosing her final battle to leukemia.

Frankie was strong, determined, kind, gentle and patriotic.  Her faith was her compass, guiding her in everything she did.  Because of that, Sunday was always a very special day for her.  Sunday was not a day to do business.  It was a day to reflect on God's blessings and to thank and honor Him. 

For our Wings Across America project, the only day we had to interview Frankie was a Sunday, August 13, 2000. We almost didn't get that opportunity.  I spent quite a bit of time getting to know her over the phone.   She prayed about it and finally agreed.  She felt that what she had to say might be important someday.  I believe today is that day.  

Our Wings Across America interviews always end with questions about legacy and inspiration.   Technology is finally catching up with the precious content that Frankie so kindly shared.  Frankie had worked on her answer, and I believe it is appropriate to share it now. May it bless you as it has us.

It is amazing to note that her birthday,  July 10, 1921, was a Sunday, and she finally flew home on  Sunday, May 30, 2010.  Our prayers for her family, her many friends and our prayer of thanksgiving for all those whose lives she touched.

Respectfully submitted by Nancy Parrish
(If you have a problem with the video, you can view it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVMtCs-H0Lg

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Reposted from The Commerical Appeal--Memphis, TN

Memphian Frankie Yearwood was WWII WASP

by Amy Barnette

Frankie Inez Yearwood was, quite literally, the last WASP on record.

A member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, an elite group of the first American women to fly in the military, Ms. Yearwood was among the program's 1,074 graduates and a part of its last class. Because her name fell at the bottom of the list alphabetically, she was the last on the roster.

Frankie Yearwood was a true WWII hero from Memphis. In March, along with about 300 other women who flew in the service, Yearwood was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal

Ms. Yearwood, who attained the rank of captain, was honored in March along with about 300 other women who flew in the service. The CONGRESS of the UNITED STATES* awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to each of the remaining WASPs, who were integral in the training of combat pilots during World War II.

She died of leukemia Sunday, fittingly on Memorial Day weekend, at her home in East Memphis. She would have been 89 on July 10.

Although she was born and raised in Oklahoma, Ms. Yearwood considered herself a Memphian. After high school, she moved to Memphis and found a job building airplanes at Fisher Aircraft. From there she enrolled in a West Memphis flight school, which led to her military career.

The WASP program, which ran from 1942 to 1944, received applications from more than 25,000 women, but only 1,830 were selected. Female pilots were not in active combat during the war but were crucial to training and transportation, flying long swaths of fabric behind their planes for target practice and moving aircraft from base to base.

Her brother, Alfred Yearwood II, recalls that her short stature, at around 5-feet tall, nearly kept her from her goal.

"Frankie was a half-inch shorter than the minimum height requirement for the WASP program, but after a visit to a chiropractor, she was admitted," he said.

After the war, Ms. Yearwood returned to Memphis, where she opened a camera and photo shop, Photos by Frankie. An avid photographer, she documented special events, including weddings and reunions, until retiring around 1980.

Niece Cathy Whaley also remembers her aunt's fondness for golfing.

"She loved to play golf," Whaley said. "She and I played together, and she played in a league at Galloway."

In addition to remaining active in the WASP organization, helping with reunions and travel plans, Ms. Yearwood was very involved with her church, Getwell Church of Christ, and her large extended family. "She took care of her mother in West Memphis," Whaley said, "and then her sister."

WASP Frankie Yearwood
Wings Across America interview, 2000

Frankie was the third of five siblings, and when her sister Mary was widowed, brother Alfred said, Frankie became her constant companion. The sisters lived together for decades until Mary's death earlier this year.

An 11 a.m. visitation Thursday, June 3 will be at Roller Family Funeral Home with a 1 p.m. service. Burial will be private Roller Family Funeral Home (901)371-9500.

Ms. Yearwood was proud that she could still fit into her military uniform, which the family said she will be buried in, with full military honors.

She is survived by her brother and nine nieces and nephews.

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*article edited for accuracy

WASP Mary Ann Baldner Gordon, 44-W-9

"My father was a WWI pilot and flew with the AEF in France.  When WWII was declared, he was transferred from the National Guard to the Air Force and sent to Scott Field, as squadron commander.  This probably explains why I thought I could fly."
 WASP  Mary Ann  Gordon

Mary Ann Baldner Gordon, Class 44-9, of Satellite Beach, Florida, passed away on May 27, 2010.


Mary Ann was born in Xenia, Ohio, the oldest of three children.  Her father, a former military pilot who had served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France during WWI, returned to the family automobile business (Baldner Motor Company) in Zenia, so Mary Ann grew up and attended all twelve years of school there.  

In early 1941, her father was called up for active duty again,  and his family accompanied him to his new assignment as  Commander of Company L -- 147th Infantry at Camp Shelby, MS.  There Mary Ann worked in the drug store to pay for college in Oxford, Miss, where she was studying to become a fashion designer.  However, she dropped out to take care of her ailing mother.  Soon after Pearl Harbor,  her father was transferred to the United States Air Force and the family followed him to Scott Army Air Force Base,  Illinois.

It was while her dad, now an Air Force pilot,  was the Squadron Commander at Scott Air Force Base,  that Mary Ann decided she wanted to learn to fly.  She got a job as a clerk-typist at Scott AFB and took flying lessons at a small civilian field nearby.

After learning about the newly created program to teach qualified women pilots to fly military aircraft,  as soon as she was qualified, Mary Ann applied for the program.    She went by train to Chicago for her personal interview.  After she fulfilled all the other requirements, including the physical  (the doctor told her to gain a little more weight), she  was accepted into the program.  She then took the train to Sweetwater, Texas  and entered training as a member of Class 44-9 on April 13, 1944. 

After graduating and becoming a WASP, Mary Ann and a classmate were stationed at Freeman Field, Seymour, Indiana as engineering test pilots.    She continued in that job until the WASP were disbanded.   As Mary Ann recalled, ‘We were sorry to have it end.  When I got orders to be disbanded, I was devastated!’  Nevertheless, on December 20th,  she had hung up her Army parachute for the last time,  was flown to Scott Air Force Base, and her father met her at the flight line.

When her father got orders to be stationed in the Philippines, Mary Ann joined the Red Cross and  spent the next eight months entertaining the troops in a club in Fountainbleau, France and in Bavaria, Germany, where, as she recalled,  ‘I gave dance lessons, called bingo, and served donuts to the troops’ until she returned to the States.

Back home in Xenia,  Mary Ann worked at the Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson AFB as an ‘Artist Illustrator’.  It was there in 1949 that she met her husband, Capt. Lawrence Gordon, a West Point graduate.  Her first date?  She laughingly recalled that ‘He took me to bingo!’  They were married in December and lived in Fairborn, Ohio until he graduated from the Air Force’s  aeronautical engineering training program in 1950.   

For the next twenty-nine years Mary Ann was an ‘Air Force Wife’ and lived on many Air Force bases in many places, including  Kwajalein Island (where the Gordons set up house in a quonset hut),  England,  Massachusetts, D.C., Scott Field, and her favorite of them all:  Patrick AFB, Florida.  Her husband, by that time,  was an Air Force  General.  They were stationed there until he retired.   

Of all the things Mary Ann was able to do in her life—all the travels and adventures—when asked what was the one thing she was most proud of, her answer came back swiftly and clearly, ‘Being a WASP!’

 In September, 2009, Mary Ann was presented a copy of the Congressional Gold Medal Bill by her Congressman, Bill Posey, at the Officers’ Club at Patrick Air Force Base, which was attended by her many friends. 

On March 10, 2010  one of her nieces picked up her Congressional Gold Medal for her in D.C.    A photo of the medal and collage of pictures from the ceremony  were placed on Mary Ann's  bedroom wall where she could see them every time she rolled in and out of the bedroom in her wheel chair.  She also received her WASP ‘Illustrated History Of The WASP’ book,  so she was able to see her picture and her quote.   

A memorial service for Mary Ann Baldner Gordon will be held in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida at Beach Funeral Home on June 16 at 2 pm  with  friends gathering time at 1:00 pm.

Mary Ann was preceded in death by her husband, Larry, sister Jane and brother-in-law Larry Davis, sister-in-law Nancy Baldner, and grand nephew Michael McVey.   Mary Ann  is survived by her younger brother, John, who is also a graduate of West Point and  an AF pilot.  She is also survived by her 7 nieces:  Jane's daughters Debby Haines, Susie Dillon and Becky Lister  and John's daughters: Kathy, Laurie, Nancy and Tricia, along with 2 grand nieces and 3 grand nephews,   as well as many friends. 

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Facts and quotes taken from the Wings Across America interview with Mary Ann Gordon, April 26, 2003 in her home at Satellite Beach, Florida.  We were honored to spend the day with Mary Ann and her husband, BRIGADIER GENERAL LAWRENCE N. GORDON.  May their service to America forever be remembered.
    Respectfully submitted, Nancy and Deanie Parrish

WASP Suzanne Delano Parish, 44-W-6

'As I acquired each new flight rating, I would wire Jacqueline Cochran, 

"Do you need me now?"  I wanted so badly to be a part of that group and to serve the war effort to the best of my abilities. I figured if I could just keep exceeding the requirements  for entry, my age would be overlooked.'  Suzanne DeLano Parish, WASP

The sad news came over the phone just a few hours ago.  A reporter in Michigan called to say that  WASP Sue Parish passed away in her California home yesterday.  She was 87.

Suzanne Parish, a lifelong Kalamazoo, Michigan resident, who was co-founder and vice chairwoman of the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, better known as the Air Zoo, and a member of the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame, had been in failing health, said her son Will Parish.

“Our mother was a woman whom I and all my siblings admired for living a life of many passions,” he said.

“She was an avid pilot, loving to perform loops and barrel rolls and fly-overs at air shows around the country. She was an accomplished equestrian who competed very successfully in many local horse shows for years.

“She loved acting in local theaters and was quite well known for portraying her characters vividly and with great creativity,” he said.

"She will always be an inspiration to us.”

Suzanne Upjohn Delano was born in New York City, New York in 1922.  Granddaughter of W.E. Upjohn, founder of Kalamazoo's Upjohn Co, Sue spent her early childhood in France, returning to Kalamazoo in 1929.  


Her passion in her early teens was horses, and Sue had planned to attend Cornell and become a veterinarian.  She was a gifted horsewoman but a fall in 1941 and a fractured ankle derailed her plans.  As Sue put it, "I was restless, getting on my mother's nerves, hobbling around the house on crutches, so she suggested I take flying lessons."  


She took her first lessons from Irving Woodhams, who carried a pilot's license signed by Orville Wright.  "I loved it so much that flying became my passion." 


When America entered World War II and the WASP program first started, Sue was in a hurry to join.  She wanted to fly for her country, but she wasn't old enough.   Every rejection was met with more determination to continue flying and another letter to WASP Director, Jacqueline Cochran.  By the time she was old enough to apply for the training program, Sue had a commercial license, instrument rating, instructor's rating and ten times as many hours as required. When she turned 21,  She was accepted as a member of class 44-6.  She  arrived at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, and survived seven months of Army Air Force flight training in the hot, windy, west Texas summer,  flying the PT-17's, BT-13's and AT-6's.  She completing the exact same training as the male AAF cadets and graduated on August 4, 1944.


After earning her silver WASP wings, Sue was assigned to Army Air Force Instrument Instruction School in Bryan, Texas, as a test pilot.  She flew with returning combat pilots who needed instrument flying and flight tested the repaired planes before the male pilots were allowed to fly them.  


After the WASP were disbanded, Dec. 20, 1944, Sue wrote to every aviation company and airline in search of job as pilot. She even lobbied her  uncle, John Gilmore, who was then President of the Upjohn Company.  Her uncle John  was not yet ready to hire a 'female' pilot.


In 1945, Sue married Preston "Pete" Parish.  Eventually, the couple had five children: Barbie Parish, Katie Anne Miller, Will Parish, Pres Parish, and Dave Parish.  When Pete decided to purchase half interest in a single-engine 35C Bonanza, they both began flying again, and began collecting an armada of aviation history that would eventually evolve into the cornerstone of the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  The Parish's co-founded the Air Zoo in 1977. Sue's pink P-40, which she flew at many air shows for over a quarter of a century, hangs from the ceiling at the main entrance to the Air Zoo. 


Sue was a board member of the Michigan Space Center in Jackson, the Civic Auditorium, the P-40 Warhawk Pilots Association, Holderness School, the Ninety-Nines, Nazareth College, and was inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame and the EAA Warbirds of America Hall of Fame.  Her last accolade was presented to all the WASP on March 10, 2010: the Congressional Gold Medal, for their pioneering, patriotic service to our nation.


She is survived by her 5 children and 14 grandchildren.


Sue represented a very special kind of pioneering pilot -- she didn't really enjoy talking about flying, she loved FLYING.  She was a gentle, kind and insatiably curious woman, with a giant sized smile that lit up every room she ever entered.  Sue was a lady -- a fearless flyer -- a pioneer -- a WASP. 


It was such a joy to see her in Washington DC -- on March 10, 2010, to receive her Congressional Gold medal replica.  She was beaming from the inside out. We met Sue and Norm Carter in the center of Emancipation Hall. They both lobbied for the Fly Girls Exhibit to travel to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  They encouraged Museum Director, Bob Ellis to travel to DC and see the exhibit, which he did.  Sue's passion for educating and inspiring young people about aviation has been contagious.  Because of Sue, the  Fly Girls traveling WASP exhibit will open at the Air Zoo at the end of May. We are so sad that she will not be able to see it, but also grateful that she was able to see it at the Women's Memorial and honored to be able to share the exhibit in such an extraordinary place-- which now serves as a living tribute to Sue Parish's passion for flying and for education.

MORE:

Obituary in the Kalamazoo News

Sue's pink P-40  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vajQyOhRl1Q

Article on Sue, published in 1999

History of the Air Zoo and Sue's legacy and love of aviation.

Kalamazoo Gazette  on Sue Parish--2009

Lois Brooks Hailey, 43-W-3

Lois Hailey - Teaching Others 

Lois was born on January 18, 1915, in the house she would grow up in at 331 Moran street in Reno, NV.  Her dad was Charles W. Brooks and her mother was Harriet Peckham.  Lois had an older brother, Ernest, and four sisters; Ethel, the eldest, Myrtle, Carol, and Louise, who are all deceased. 

Lois spent her youth as a tomboy.  She also spent time at her Dad’s Model Dairy.  She sold raffle tickets and won first prize, a horse.  She learned early that her life was not bounded by others. 

Lois attended Reno High and then went on to get a degree in Spanish and Education from the University of Nevada in Reno.  During her senior year,  she had to take care of her ailing mother, who was stricken with cancer.  There was nothing Lois could do for her mother but try and comfort her.  Lois did not know it at the time, but cancer would come into her life again.


After graduation in 1936 from U of N, Lois took a teaching job in Minden, Nevada, south of Reno.  She directed the school band and gave private music lessons to interested students.  She was also responsible for teaching photography for the school.  Her plan was to save enough money to fulfill her dream of attending the Julliard School of Music.

 The elementary school band, Minden, Nevada, 1942

All was going as planned, but outside influences were starting to detour her life.  In June of 1939, Jim Peckham, a cousin, got her to join him and learn to fly.  She fell in love with it.  On December 3, 1939, mom flew solo for the first time.  On January 17, she was awarded her solo license.  By April 17, 1940, she had her private license.

On December 1, 1940, Jim and a friend, Vic Spezia, pooled their money, convinced mom to give up part of her Julliard savings, and they bought a single engine Taylorcraft, NC23875, for $1,995.  Sharing the plane meant Jim and Vic got the plane during the week and Lois got it on the weekend.  Lois also got to fly the plane over the mountains to take it in for maintenance work.  Jim and Vic would kid mom by making up stories about the carburetor freezing or ice on the wings and the plane would fall out of the sky while she was in route. 

After about a year of sharing the Taylorcraft, Jim and Vic sold mom their share in the plane.  This was just as W.W.II was starting.

Mom, while still fulfilling her teaching duties, kept flying; spot landings, cross-country, chandelles, eights, verticals, spins, loops and stalls.  Finally, on July 11, 1941, with over 300 hours, she took and passed her commercial license test to become the first female pilot in the state of Nevada to do so. 

As the war progressed, flying was limited and fuel was rationed.  On August 29, 1942, Lois, with just over 500 hours of flying time, sold her plane to a training school so it could be put to better use. 

That didn’t keep her from flying though.  In September of that year, her brother Ernest started his unsuccessful run for Congress.  She borrowed a plane from a local gambler, Virgil Smith, to fly Ernest around northern Nevada.

This was also the time that Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran were putting their women’s flying groups together.  Since Lois had over 500 hours, she received an invitation from Nancy Love to join the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS).   All she had to do was travel back east for an interview with Nancy.  She declined.  Then she got a telegram from Jacqueline to meet her on the west coast for an interview. 

Lois Brooks and classmates, 43-3 at Houston Municipal Airport, 1942

Lois was interested in meeting Jacqueline, but not in joining the Army.  So, she joined a friend, Iris Crtichell, who also got an invitation to join the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) and they went to see what it was all about.  Mom told them she wasn’t interested in joining and asked about Jacqueline.   She was told that Jacqueline would not be there and that since she was there, she should take the physical just to see if she could pass.  Well she passed and ending up joining.  Iris became part of the second class of the WFTD in Houston, Texas.  Lois delayed her entry until have the end of the school semester and Christmas holidays.  She joined the third WFTD class in January of 1943. 

Mom spent six* months learning to fly the army way and then took on a new teaching job.  While in the 6th Tow Target squadron at Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso, Texas, she helped the army personnel learn how to use machine guns and larger artillery to hit moving targets towed behind her plane.  She also flew at night so they could learn to use search lights.  She strafed infantry with tear gas.   She was teaching young men skills that would either help them survive or help keep others alive.

In December of 1944, the WASP were disbanded.  The jobs they were performing had to go back to the men that were returning from the war as it wound down.

As the end of the WASP drew near, Lois and her best friend, Lois ‘Holly’ Hollingsworth, started taking training to get their civilian instructor licenses.  When they left the WASP, the joined Border Flying and started teaching GIs how to fly civilian aircraft as they left the Army.

By this time, Lois had accumulated over 1,300 hours of flying.   For the next five years she and Holly supported themselves by teaching flying.   They even pooled their earnings to buy a house.  

In 1946, she also became the first chairperson of the El Paso Chapter of the  99s.   In March of 1947, she soloed Sam Hailey, her husband to be and in June of that same year, she soloed her father Charles Brooks, age 65.   At this point Lois had over 3,000 hours flying.   During this time she also wrote a column, "El Paso Air Lanes" for the El Paso Times.

Mom married Sam Hailey in 1947. In April of 1948, they became the parents of Charles Andrew.   Her marriage didn't last and she never remarried.  

Mrs. Hailey & her orchestra students

In the fall of 1949, she gave up teaching flying and went back to teaching band and orchestra with the El Paso School District.  Mom’s teaching career in El Paso spanned 31 years and included earning her Masters in Education with a minor in Music from Texas Western College in 1953.  

She typically taught at three different schools each day for a given school year and provided instruction at more than 10 different schools.   At Austin High School, she taught a course in aeronautics, but most classes were band or orchestra.   During that time she continued to fly, but by 1978, mom had only added about 600 hours to her pilot log.  

In 1980, three years after the WASP were finally recognized as veterans via an act of Congress, mom retired.  During retirement, she continued to support flying through membership in the 99s and volunteering at the War Eagles Museum near El Paso.  She also attended the WASP reunions that occurred every other year, including their last reunion in 2008. She also traveled to other activities honoring the WASP. 

Andy Hailey presents Lois with her Congressional Gold Medal

She was inducted into the El Paso Aviation Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame in 2004.  On the May 23, 2005, Lois was honored by the El Paso County Commissioners Court for her WASP service, her services to the El Paso ISD, and becoming the first chairperson of the El Paso chapter of the 99s.   On March 10 of this year, she, and her fellow WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in Emancipation Hall of the new Congressional Visitors center in Washington, DC. for their service during WWII. 

Lois is survived by her son, Charles “Andy” Hailey, his wife Mary and their daughter Dawn.  Mary and Dawn were  Lois’s caregivers since May of 2008 when Lois was moved from El Paso to Friendswood, Texas, to live with her immediate family. 

For more about Lois visit: http://wwii-women-pilots.org/
Obituary written by Charles Andy Hailey

Photos added w/ respect by Wings Across America

* Class 43-3 entered training in February of 1943 and graduated on July 3, 1943.  

_____________________

TRIBUTE TO MRS. LOIS HAILEY FROM FORMER STUDENT Luis Fierro  (reposted from Andy Hailey's wwii-women-pilots.org)

I was one of Mrs. Hailey's orchestra students at Bowie High School class of 1966. I hold Mrs Hailey's in the highest respect as a gifted teacher, mentor and blessed human being. I can look back and say, Mrs. Hailey was unique. She was a truly independent spirit. She was highly intelligent. Like Amelia Earhart who at the El Paso History Museum shows flew into El Paso at one point in her illustrious career, I continue to regard Mrs. Hailey as an awesomely inspiring pioneer woman who played such a critical role during WWII and aviation. She deserves to be mentioned in the same breath and to be likened to Amelia Earhart and more.

She contributed so much as part of an elite group of women who have remained woefully unrecognized for their tremendous selfless, patriotic contribution to this great nation. I read with great pride Mrs. Hailey's name on the Honor Roll at the War Eagles Air Museum and most recently viewed photos at the El Paso Historical Museum with the same degree of pride and joyful melancholy. Therefore it was probably no coincidence that I was on the Internet this morning and read about/saw the video about Congress' recent honor to the WASPs -- but rather that I would finally learn that such a great individual such as Mrs Hailey along with her female esprit de corps comrades are being recognized in such deserving fashion. I couldn't help but become teary-eyed upon hearing "off we go into the wild blue yonder ... " tribute in their honor. A few years ago a group of her orchestra students, including myself took Mrs Hailey out to lunch -- once again like a flock of humble El Paso south-siders, but all so proud disciples of Mrs Hailey -- still so amazingly powerful in her own magical aura that she was still able to evoke. Her influence on all of us, especially myself will live on for the rest of my life. There are maybe a handful of people that have touched me like Mrs Hailey that have been able to evoke such passion and fervor for learning and spark for individual growth during my developing years in grade school through high school. Yes, Mrs Hailey was my orchestra teacher from 6th grade through High school -- who took us out of our little south side, limited environment and challenged us to do more -- to successfully participate in All-City Orchestra, to be successful Student Council Officers and even for me to be senior valedictorian. Yes, she is part of only a handful of such powerfully influential teachers that can really help to forge young minds and individual potentials -- but more importantly she sits atop that short list of such wonderful teachers and overall human beings.

I always enjoyed reading her skillfully worded and expressive letters to the editor of the local newspaper even after I left El Paso. All of these remain fond and non-erasable memories today just as much as the day that she took her group of violin students to visit the El Paso airport and let us step inside a parked little Cessna prop airplane inside the hangar. Perhaps just little things for anybody else, but tremendously enduring experiences for me. She always told us that we were a "special" group of musically gifted students. Mrs. Hailey, you will always remain that special and gifted single person for the rest of my life.

Luis Fierro

WASP Violet Wierzbicki, 43-W-4

"She will be remembered as a woman who saw no limitations, just the horizon, as her spirit, like those of her generations, continues to soar."

Private services will be held for Violet Wierzbicki who passed away in Capitola, CA on April 17, 2010 at the age of 93. 

Born in Taunton, Massachusetts, Violet moved to Flint, Michigan as a child with her family and was raised there.

Violet worked for General Motors as a secretary and during WWII volunteered for Army Air Force flight training, entering training at Avenger Field in the fourth class of Women Airforce Service Pilots.  After successfully completing training, she graduated on August 7, 1943 with Army orders to report to Romulus, Michigan, where she flew as a ferry pilot.  Recently, Violet and all the WASP were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their trailblazing, patriotic service to America.

After the war, Violet moved to San Francisco and worked as a secretary for U.S. Steel. She later worked for Saga Corporation in Menlo Park. Violet's career as a private secretary spanned over 40 years. She retired to Aptos 26 years ago. She leaves many dear friends at Dominican Oaks where she most recently lived.

She was a talented artist and had just completed a book about her life. At the age of 90, Violet shared the cockpit of a plane; taking the controls for a short time. 

She is survived by her sister, Irene Evans of Aptos, nephew David Evans, his wife Marilyn and their children, Caroline, Catherine and Gregory of Santa Clara.

Maj. Gen. Jeanne M. Holm, USAF ret

by Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

3/30/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The first female two-star general in both the Air Force and Department of Defense was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery March 29.

Retired Maj. Gen. Jeanne M. Holm is credited as the single driving force in achieving equality for military women and making them a viable part of the mainstream military. She was a champion of diversity and advocate for equal rights for women.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and other senior leaders, active and retired, attended the funeral ceremony and internment.

After the service and burial, members of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial hosted a wake where friends and family members shared stories about the general.

"It's fitting that we're here remembering her," said retired Col. Yvonne Schilz in reference to the Women in Airforce Service Pilots display at the memorial. "Where the WASP cracked the glass ceiling, Jeanne blew it open for the rest of us. I was able to attend the Air Force Academy because of what she did.

"In some way, we just all want to give back to her, so this felt like the right place to be today," Colonel Schilz added.

Retired Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught echoed the colonel's sentiments.

"She made my career in the Air Force possible," said General Vaught, president of the board of directors of the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation, Inc. "She definitely knew how to get things done and it was amazing to see her work."

General Vaught shared several of her memories of her friend Jeanne, who was partially responsible for the creation of the women's memorial.

"She wanted to write a book about women in the military," General Vaught said. "In truth, she already had a lot of the work done."

General Holm authored two books: "Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution," which came out in 1982 and was updated in 1994; and four years later she wrote "In Defense of a Nation: Servicewomen in World War II."

During her 31-year career, General Holm accomplished much.

The Portland, Ore., native attained the rank of two-star general in 1973 after a career that began in 1942 when she enlisted in the Army. General Holm entered Women's Army Air Corps in January 1943 where she received a commission as third officer, the WAAC equivalent of second lieutenant.

General Holm also became the first woman to attend the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in 1952.

She was promoted to brigadier general July 16, 1971, the first female Airman to be appointed to that grade. She was subsequently promoted to the grade of major general effective June 1, 1973, with date of rank of July 1, 1970, the first woman in the armed forces to serve in that grade.

In recognition of General Holm's pioneering career, Air Force officials renamed the Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools at Maxwell AFB the Jeanne M. Holm Officer Accession and Citizen Development Center in June 2008. Its mission is Air Force officer recruitment and training within the Air University.

During World War II, General Holm was assigned to the Women's Army Corps Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., where she first commanded a basic training company and then a training regiment. At the end of the war, she commanded the 106th WAC Hospital Company at Newton D. Baker General Hospital, W.Va. She then left active military duty in 1946.

In October 1948 during the Berlin crisis, she was recalled to active duty with the Army and went to Camp Lee, Va., as a company commander. The following year she transferred to the Air Force, when a new law integrated women in the regular armed forces.

General Holm served in a variety of personnel assignments, including director of Women in the Air Force from 1965 to 1973. She played a significant role in eliminating restrictions on numbers of women serving in all ranks, expanding job and duty station assignments for women, opening ROTC and service academies to women and changing the policies on the status of women in the armed forces. During her tenure, policies affecting women were updated, WAF strength more than doubled, job and assignment opportunities expanded and uniforms modernized.

The general retired in 1975. She served three presidential administrations: special assistant on women for President Gerald Ford, policy consultant for President Jimmy Carter and first chairperson of the Veterans Administration's Committee on Women Veterans for President Ronald Reagan.

General Holm died Feb. 15.

(Master Sgt. Russell P. Petcoff contributed to this story.)

WWII WASP Anita Paul, better known as SISTER TERESA, OCD, takes her final flight.

WASP Anita Paul, aka SISTER TERESA, passed away Saturday, March 28, a little after 4pm at a hospital on the island of Guadeloupe -- in the middle of the beautiful waters of the Caribbean Islands. Her work is now finished. She has truly flown home.



On the back of her profession cross was her personal motto-- one she carried with her all her days as a nun: "STO VELOX IN FIDES". Stand fast in faith. She did. Today, she is flying higher and faster--and I am richer indeed for knowing her.

I submit this text with the greatest respect. It is not so much an obituary as it is a part of her life's testimony-- who she was, what she stood for and why she will be missed. For me, it will always be the sparkle and joy that she brought to everything--no matter what the challenge. She always had that special twinkle in her eyes.


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Sister Teresa, who was known in her early days as Anita Paul, was my first true 'answer to a prayer' when we started our Wings Across America project 12 years ago. She was the first amazing, inspirational WASP whose life was about so much more than flying airplanes. Inspirational indeed. She was. She always will be.



When the first letters went out to all the WASP asking if they would agree to be interviewed, I was reluctant to send a letter to the French Antillies, where she was 'stationed.' I knew that Carmelite nuns could not leave their convents. They are cloistered behind massive walls. Mom said, "Send it. I want her to know someone cares about her service." I had already prayed that God would please not let these interviews just be about 'a bunch of women pilots'. I was praying for more-- for inspiration -- for lives of service, of sacrifice, of significance.
A short time later I received the first of many letters from Sister Teresa. "I think what you are doing is important," she wrote, "but I can only ask permission if you will allow me to talk about God and what he means in my life." I wrote her back just one word in the first sentence, "Hallelujah!" Yes, indeed, God answers prayers. Her letter to me was the first of many answers-- all going in the same direction-- forward march.




Sister Teresa had to ask for special permission from her Mother Superior to come to Texas for her interview. She asked. She was told 'no.' So, her WASP instincts firing on all cylinders, she packaged up all our correspondence to date and sent it to Rome, asking special permission to travel to Texas, to the world's largest Baptist university, and tell her story. Rome said 'YES."


Her next challenge was where she would stay. She wrote me about monasteries in the area. We have the largest number of Baptist churches per capita-- but we have no monasteries. However, I did write her that I had found 1 in Ft. Worth, which is about an hour and a half from Waco. Or, I told her, she could stay at our house. So the letter finally came. "I will come to Waco. I will stay with you. I will stay six days."



I had never really met a nun before. Six days she did stay, and we cried when she left.
Her spirit has always been a rising tide-- lifting all boats. I am so honored she chose to answer my original letter-- and I am honored to call her my friend. Her picture of the trainee ready to fly--hand on her hip, is one that is a special part of the Fly Girls exhibit- I made sure it was seven feet tall-- larger than life. Always.


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She was born May 21, 1924 in Nashua, New Hampshire to a hard working French speaking family. Her young life was colored by her pride in her father's service in WWI, her imagination and her love of God, her country and the outdoors.



One of her fondest memories was of her dad, sitting on the porch, smoking his pipe and showing her all the bright stars. He pointed out the special "T" that shines as part of Orion's belt. He told his young daughter that a young girl named "Terese" had seen that same formation---and said to her own father, "Look daddy, my name is written in heaven." Young Anita squinted and strained, looking for an "A". Not finding one, she said to her dad, "Why didn't you name me Terese!


20 years later, when Anita became a nun, Cardinal O'Boyle announced her new name in Christ. He said that hereafter, for all time, Anita Paul would be known as Sister Teresa. God granted her wish, for her name to be spelled out in heaven. During one of her interviews, she told us, "I got my name in heaven at last-- I can claim the "T". I can't wait for the next bright night-- so I can find that special T.


Ever since I met her, she has been praying for me. That is what she did. She prayed for people, for leaders, for countries, for young people....and she embraced it fully. When she visited Baylor University a few years ago, the students just fell in love with her. She would ask their names, and then say, I will be praying for you. She remembered their names, all of them. Her prayers will be missed by so many.

On March 10, 2010, Sister Teresa was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for her service as a WASP during WWII. She knew about the medal, but was unable to attend the ceremony. Her niece, Trica McNelly, was there, and proud to be representing her wonderful aunt. For Sister Teresa, it would not have been about the actual 'award.' It would have been the fact that her country remembered and that her country cared. Of course, if she could have been there, she would have, even if she had to write to Rome.


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To complete this text, I include this link to a short tribute to Sister Teresa, written by WASP Deanie Parrish that was published in the special WASP edition of the Stars and Stripes, March 10, 2010.


On the right is the graphic representing the Gulf Coast Training Command,AAF,WWII. "UT VIRI VOLENT" -- that men may fly. It was special to Sister Teresa. She asked me to print it out for her. I did- and laminated it so that she could carry it with her. She kept it in a special place in her prayer book, where, I am sure, it remained until the last.

Also, an article that appeared on the front page of the Waco Tribune Herald




Sister Teresa was an expert at "TATTING"-- which is now considered an old fashioned skill. She had learned from her French grandmother, and she was a master Her work was in high demand by the Catholic Church. I am sure these vestments are still being worn all over the world. Here is a beautiful example: