January - March 2021 High Flight - Selfridge Military Air Museum
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High Flight
January – March 2021
NEW VOLUNTEERS
We are continuously blessed with new people volunteering their time to help us here at the Museum.
Since the last issue of the WASSUP, we have not added to our team of volunteers. The Museum is
always looking for a “few good men & women” to add to our team. We have had some additional
“NEW” volunteers sign up in 2020, but they have yet officially not started volunteering so they will be
covered in future newsletters.
Bette Kenward* Dennis Kenward Doug ‘Odie’ Slocum
Mark Sibula Carol Pezet* Mark Davidson
Jeanette Marrs* Debra Stephens* Cole Watson**
Evan Wieczorek** Angela Allen Kurt Hansen
Paul Werner
*Tribute Rosie and WOW (Women Ordnance Workers) Groups
**Previously listed, but just got their bio.
High Flight 1 January – March 2021
LONG-TERM MUSEUM VISITORS PASSES
For those who do not use a Government ID card to access the
Base, a revised list of volunteers has been sent to the Base
Access Control Officer for the new Defense Biometric
Identification System (DBIDS) card that will allow you access
to the base. This list includes the name of volunteer’s
spouses, if applicable, or the parent/guardian of volunteers
who have not already reached driving age. The Air Force-
mandated background check on the individuals listed will be
accomplished, at the Visitor’s Center when the DBIDS card is
issued. When you come thru the Gate, just show them that card. They will scan the bar code
on the back, and you will be on your way.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
(1) DBIDS cards will be issued ONLY to the persons on the validated list allowing them
access to the Base.
(2) If your spouse needs unescorted access to the Base to drop you off or pick you up,
he/she will need to get his or her own DBIDS card. The DBIDS cards were requested for the
current period, BUT if you picked up a new DBIDS card before the expiration of the old one, the
new one will expire one year after the issuance of the new one.
(3) Keep your eye on that expiration date. Do not forget to get your “NEW DBIDS” card
before your current one expires!
(a) You will need to call Pass & ID, Bldg. 900, and make an appointment to renew
your DBIDS card. Phone Number is: 586-239-6849
(b) Hours for Pass & ID are: Mon: 0800-1500; Tues thru Fri: 0730-1500
(4) Your Social Security number will be required to be confirmed before your DBIDS card
can be issued, so you will have to present either your physical Social Security card or a copy of a
physical IRS Form (such as a W-2) to confirm that number.
DBIDS cards are issued at the Vehicle Registration desk in the Visitor’s Center, north of
the Main Gate at the intersection of M-59 and Jefferson Avenue.
Due to staffing limitations, the Visitor’s Center is closed the Saturday before a Federal
holiday, Sundays, Federal holidays, and on Saturdays and Mondays for lunch (time varies
depending on their workload).
DBIDS cards have been requested solely for participation in Museum activities, the
performance of Museum business at other on-Base locations, and transportation to/from on-
Base eating establishments. Do not use this pass for any other reason!
High Flight 2 January – March 2021
Please, please, please! Recruit your family members and/or friends to volunteer @ the Museum. We desperately need weekend docents, so please recruit your family & friends to sign up as weekend docents for our 2021 Season. Remember, if we get enough volunteers to serve as Docents, we will not have to do so many days! Our special Tuesday/Friday teams could also use more volunteers. We have a ‘NEW’ Volunteer Coordinator, Barb Taylor. She is working with Lori to learn the process and to organize/schedule the docents for 2021! High Flight 3 January – March 2021
Museum Happenings
Note from the Editor:
If you have photos or articles on happenings at the Selfridge Military Air Museum, please share
them with Lori @ library-archives@selfridgeairmuseum.org. Also, we are trying to highlight
“new” volunteers in each newsletter. Team Chiefs, if you have a “new” volunteer on your team
that has not been highlighted in the newsletter in the last couple years (2018-2021), please ask
them to write a short bio and send a photo and the bio to Lori at above email.
ALL VOLUNTEERS: If you have any updates to your information that you provided at the time of
submitting your application, please send the updates: email, phone, address, emergency
contact person and their phone number, etc. to the above email address so that Lori or Pam
can keep the Volunteer Register and Emergency Contact List up-to-date. Thank you.
Lori Nye
Newsletter Editor/Library-Archives Team Chief
High Flight 4 January – March 2021
Museum Happenings (cont.)
Go-Fund-Me
The Selfridge Military Air Museum has launched a “Go-Fund-Me” initiative
to raise funds for improvements to the Museum’s infrastructure. We are
hoping that we will be able to build a “new” home for the USMC FG-1D
Corsair that is currently being restored by our restoration team and the T-6 ‘Texan’. Please help
if you can!! For more information, watch the video by clicking on the link below or copying and
pasting the link into your URL bar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCoHEr0GNy4. If
you’re interested in helping us out with this project, you can make a donation by clicking on this
link or by copying/pasting the link into your URL bar: https://www.gofundme.com/f/7tqvzq-
maghaselfridge-military-air-museum?viewupdates=1&rcid=r01-159966432152-
8c49a1875e334fda&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2B
1137-update-supporters-v5b
Kroger Community Rewards Program
HELP Support the
Selfridge Military Air Museum!
Kroger Community Rewards Program:
This program will link purchases made with your Kroger’s Plus Card to the Selfridge Military Air
Museum so that a portion of the sale is donated back to the Selfridge Military Air Museum. Directions
for signing up with this program can be found on the Museum’s website:
https://selfridgeairmuseum.org/museum-fund-raising/
Last quarter the Museum earned over $140. So, if you have not signed up the Museum to earn
money from your Kroger purchases, please check out the website (link above) and sign up your Kroger
card to help out the Selfridge Military Air Museum.
Amazon Smile:
For information about the Amazon Smile Program that the
museum is enrolled in, check out the website:
https://selfridgeairmuseum.org/museum-fund-raising/
Just received notice that the Museum earned about $38 through this program. I
know that we could earn a whole lot more since everyone seems to be buying online these
days instead of in the brick-and-mortar stores. So, if you purchase from Amazon on a regular basis or even on
an irregular basis, please, please, please remember to make your purchases through the Amazon Smile
Program and list the Selfridge Military Air Museum to benefit from your purchases. See the link above to see
how to do this on the Museum’s website.
High Flight 5 January – March 2021
Museum Happenings (cont.)
PRINTS FOR SALE IN GIFT SHOP and by SPECIAL ORDER
Starting in the Museum 2021 season, ALL volunteers will receive a 25%
discount on merchandise purchased in the Museum’s Gift Shop, excluding
soda/water/chips. This discount is good only in the Gift Shop.
Per CMSgt Wayne T. Fetty, Executive Director, Selfridge Military Air Museum
With our eyes on a future home for our beloved FG-1D Corsair that is currently
undergoing restoration by our team volunteers, we have available in the Gift Shop or through
mail order using the order form from our website prints or Giclee canvas of ‘Corsair Over
Grosse Ile’ for sale. The Museum is still in need of funding for the advancement of the
proposed “new” hangar to house our beloved FG-1D Corsair and T-6 “Texan”. These prints and
canvases would make a great addition to your military art collection in your ‘man cave’ or ‘she-
shed’.
Our FG-1D Corsair, when it finally makes it out of
Restoration, will be painted in the markings of
USMC Squadron VMF 251, who flew the Goodyear-
produced FG-1D Corsair from Grosse Ile Naval Air
Station from 1946 through 1950. In 1950, the unit
was activated for the Korean War. Before
deploying to Korea, VMF-251 converted to the
Douglas A-1D Skyraider.
Corsair over Grosse Ile
‘Miller Time’: Lt. Col. Don Miller’s flight to the Smithsonian F-4C ‘William Tell Final’
We also have a print of the Sherman tank ranging in price from $15 - $125. Check out the website for more details.
High Flight 6 January – March 2021
Museum Happenings (cont.) Prints of the Corsair over Grosse Ile are available in the Museum’s Gift Shop. Prints on Canvas of these aircraft are available as special order. Please see the Museum’s website at: https://selfridgeairmuseum.org. The Museum Gift Shop has coffee mugs to match or visit ‘the Shop’ on our website! High Flight 7 January – March 2021
Museum Happenings (cont.)
Executive Director:
Steven Mrozek
With an enthusiastic interest in military history and an extensive
career working with historical museums, Steve Mrozek joined the
growing roster of volunteers at the Selfridge Military Air Museum May
2020 and became the Museum’s Curator in July. Steve’s museum career
includes positions at the Detroit Historical Museum, the National
Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as well as several local museums.
He admits that it’s his interest in military history and past Army National
Guard service that led him back to Selfridge. As an avid military historian
with several books to his credit, he had served as the historian for the 82nd Airborne Division
Association. It was also this interest which led him to the Army and a 26 years long career. As a
paratrooper, Mrozek served over ten years in Company F, 425th Infantry, a Long Range
Surveillance unit stationed at Selfridge. Later attached to the 82nd Airborne, he deployed to
Afghanistan in 2007. In February 2021 he took over the position as Executive Director.
Gift Shop/Museum Host Team:
This team has a new Volunteer Coordinator,
Barb Taylor. For all the volunteers that have
been around the last 10+ years, I’m sure you
all know Barb and her husband, Ray. Barb,
when volunteering is usually in the Gift Shop
and Ray is sitting either inside the SPAD
Hangar, or if the weather is nice, relaxing in a
lawn chair outside the hangar. Ray was one
of the original team members that designed
and built the Museum’s SPAD.
We are looking for “new” faces to
help fill out our Host Team for 2021. If you have some free hours and wish to help us out,
check out the Museum’s website at: https://selfridgeairmuseum.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/09/Museum-Volunteer-Packet-Application.pdf, and fill out the
Volunteer Application and mail it or bring it to the Museum. Address is: 27333 C Street, Bldg
1011, Selfridge ANG Base, MI 48045. We try to have our hosts dedicate at least 8 days
throughout the season, but if that is not something that can be done, sign up for only what you
can do. Please consider volunteering for our 2021 Season, which (hopefully) begins 10 April
2021 through 31 October 2021.
High Flight 8 January – March 2021
Museum Happenings (cont.)
Bette Kenward
Bette is interested in the Selfridge Military Air Museum from visiting it and
attending air shows. She is helping out as a volunteer with Restoration Team
working on the Corsair and with other Rosie’s serving as a Host/Docent in the
Gift Shop, Flight Training Room, SPAD Hangar, or as in Inside/Outside
Floater. Bette says she doesn’t work as ‘her passion is the Rosie’s and that is
a full-time job.’ She puts in many hours working hard to keep the Rosie’s
legacy alive and honoring her grandmother, who was a Rosie!
Both she and her husband, Dennis, enjoy World War II history, aviation, and collecting
pieces of it. Bette also helps out at the Yankee Air Museum as a Tribute Rosie and working
many of their events. She also volunteers at the Michigan Military Technical Historical Society
Museum. Bette has a certificate in pastry (culinary) and baking is her hobby not her profession.
She has work experience in retail, as a food demonstrator, day-care worker and nanny.
Restoration Team:
Our Restoration team continues its work on our Goodyear
Aircraft Corporation, FG-1D Corsair WWII fighter, which required
extensive restoration work. The historic aircraft was originally
stationed at nearby Grosse Ile Naval Air Station. The Corsair
restoration project will also have its own dedicated display
hangar on the museum grounds and is expected to be
completed as
early as 2022 (hopefully). The Museum just received the
replacement canopy for our FG-1D Corsair. It was fabricated by
Roush Industries and a huge ‘thank you’ goes out to Steve
Karpus and Jack Roush for manufacturing this critical piece for
our aircraft. In April, our Corsair will be entering the paint booth
to get the final painting prior to eventual assembly.
Sad news for our volunteers and members who knew our long-time Team Chief in
Restoration: Darryl Rohrbeck who retired in 2020. Darryl lost his battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis
on 18 January 2021. Here is his obituary from legacy.com:
High Flight 9 January – March 2021
Museum Happenings (cont.)
On Monday, January 18, 2021, Darrell W. Rohrbeck lost his fight with
Pulmonary Fibrosis. Darrell was enamored with airplanes from
childhood, making models for the Air Force in WWII until his 90’s when
he flew model airplanes. He spent 30 years working for General
Motors in styling and 25 years working at Selfridge Air National Guard
restoring anything related to flight. He received his pilot’s license in his
teens, ice boated, hang glided, sailed and sky dove once. He is
predeceased by his wife Joan (Cox) Rohrbeck, his brother Melvin
Rohrbeck, and his parents Harold and Mildred (Reck) Rohrbeck. He is survived by his daughter
Darcy (Ed) Schlitt, his brother Glenn (Janet) Rohrbeck, 3 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren
and 9 nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Selfridge Air
National Guard Museum. Arrangements made by Gendernalik Funeral Home, New Baltimore.
Darryl was a volunteer at the museum from 1989 to 2020, when he stepped aside for
health reasons and Steve Sibal became the Restoration Team Chief. Darryl was one of the lead
team members on the design and building of the Museum’s SPAD XIII and was heavily involved
on the on-going restoration project of the FG-1D Corsair.
The Restoration Team has several “new” and not-so ‘new’ volunteers since the last
newsletter. They are:
Mark Sibula
Mark served in the Michigan Air National Guard and spent his entire
service career here at Selfridge ANG Base. He served about 21 years with
AFRC and the Air National Guard for 17 years with some of that time being
spent on deployment to Iraq/Afghanistan. He retired from the 127th FW,
Aerospace Ground Equipment in 2018. He learned about the Museum and
the restoration efforts of the Corsair through word-of-mouth and through
his friendship with another Restoration Team volunteer.
He currently works for Foam ‘n More as a foam cutter and gives the
Museum his time as a volunteer on Saturdays.
NO Evan Wieczorek
IMAGE
AVAILABLE Evan has been elusive for the camera, so apologies that we don’t have his
photo. He has actually been a weekend volunteer and an occasional
Tuesday/Friday volunteer in Restoration since 2019. He got involved volunteering through his
friendship with another Restoration Team volunteer because he ‘likes mechanical things’ and it
sounded like a fun thing to do. He is currently working on the restoration of the Goodyear FG-
1D Corsair. Evan works as a fabricator with PSI Automotive and loves to race cars and
motorcycles.
High Flight 10 January – March 2021Museum Happenings (cont.)
Doug ‘Odie’ Slocum
Retiring as a Brigadier General in 2019, Doug “Odie” Slocum has 35
years’ experience with the Air Force and the Air National Guard. His last
assignment was as the Commanding General of the 127th Wing and Selfridge
Air National Guard Base. Under his leadership, the men and women of the
base earned numerous accolades including awards for being the top Air
National Guard Wing in the country, the top fighter aircraft organization, the
most efficient aerial tanker Wing in the Air Force, and only the third Air National Guard Wing in
history to receive the Meritorious Unit Award for “outstanding devotion and exceptional
performance.” He is well known for his leadership style which has been branded as “violent
positivity”. Prior to coming to Michigan in 2014, he was the Air National Guard Inspector
General in Washington DC.
Personally, he is well known in Southeast Michigan for expanding partnerships to new
levels and initiating several pioneering projects bringing together coalitions from across the
community, state, and nation. He is the recipient of DTE’s 2019 Environmental Steward of the
Year Award, Macomb County’s 2018 Economic Partner of the Year, and was inducted into the
Macomb County Hall of Fame in 2017. Odie is a world-renowned educator and acclaimed
motivational speaker having delivered more than 750 presentations or keynote addresses to
over 150,000 attendees.
Odie is a career fighter pilot with more than 4,100 hours flying F-4, F-16, and A-10
aircraft – the top 1% of experienced fighter pilots in the Air Force. As an instructor pilot, he has
personally authored more than 250 lessons, textbooks, and professional publications. He also
served as the Air National Guard Director of Safety, where he is credited with leading the four
safest years in the organization’s history. He personally created and championed several
proposals including an innovative program that addressed human error in aircraft maintenance.
Through this initiative the U.S. Air Force realized a 76 percent decrease in preventable mishaps,
saving lives as well as more than $78 million. He also championed nation-wide programs for
suicide prevention, fatigue management, driving safety, midair collision avoidance, and flight
safety. He is also a trained and experienced aircraft mishap investigator. As a result of his safety
innovations and results, Odie was inducted into the Air Force Safety Hall of Fame in 2013.
Odie is active in the community and as a veteran advocate, serving on the boards of the
Fisher House of Michigan and the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), is a member
of Women in Defense (WID), the Selfridge Base Community Council, and the Macomb County
Chamber. He lives in Macomb Township in Southeast Michigan and is married and has a 14-
year-old daughter.
High Flight 11 January – March 2021Museum Happenings (cont.)
Dennis Kenward
I became interested in aviation as young child. My Dad was in the Air
Force Reserves and served as Loadmaster on C-119 Flying Boxcars out of
Selfridge in the 1960s. My Dad would often allow my brother and I to explore
the aircraft while the aircraft were in the hanger. He explained to us how they
loaded vehicles and other loads into the aircraft making sure the weight and
balance was correct and how the parachutes were rigged to the loads. We
attended many airshows throughout the years and interest in aviation has
always been a part of my life.
Regrettably, I never served in the military. Instead my entire career has been in the
private sector. I am a Walsh College graduate and currently employed full-time as a manager at
Shuert Technologies, a manufacturing company located in Sterling Heights.
A number of years ago my wife Bette and I heard about a train you could ride from the
historic railroad depot in Mt. Clemens to Selfridge…visit a museum and return to the depot in
Mt. Clemens. We took the train ride and that was our first visit to the Selfridge Military Air
Museum. We visited the museum several times over the years.
Bette has been active with the tribute Rosie the Riveters and she led a group of the
tribute Rosie’s in various activities at the Selfridge Open House in 2017. Late last year, she was
contacted by Ed Kaminski and asked to volunteer at the museum. While talking to Ed, she found
out that volunteers were needed on Saturdays to help restore the FG-1D Corsair. She told me
about the opportunity, and I jumped at the chance to work on my favorite aircraft! I helped on
a restoration project of an AT-11 for a couple years at another museum but turning wrenches
on a Corsair is the ultimate opportunity. The crew at the museum is outstanding and I am proud
to work with them.
In my off time, I enjoy photography, gardening, camping and of course attending air
shows.
Air Park Team:
Our Air Park Team is managing to keep themselves occupied with other projects over
the Winter months when it will not be possible to work on maintenance/restoration issues with
the aircraft and other vehicles in the Museum’s air park. The Air Park Team also has a ‘new’
volunteer since the Summer of 2020.
Cole Watson
Cole is a 16-year-old sophomore at Merritt Academy in New Haven. He
is also a member of Boy Scout Troop 127 out of VFW Post 7573 in New
Baltimore and Selfridge so he has been coming out to the Museum for years to
wash the A-7D Corsair II and F-100 Super Sabre as his boy scout troop
participates in the Museum’s Adopt-A-Plane Program.
High Flight 12 January – March 2021Museum Happenings (cont.)
He enjoys working on cars, hanging out with friends, and playing football for Merritt
Academy. He also works at Bagger Dave’s in Chesterfield as a cook and loves volunteering at
the Selfridge Military Air Museum.
Library Research Team, Archives & Uniform Shop:
The Library-Archives Team, minus the Team Chief, Lori Nye and Joe Mazzara, is taking a
brief hiatus because of Covid. Hopefully, they will be back soon now that the vaccine is more
readily available for those that want it. Our newest volunteer, Dawn Dobbelaer, has taken a brief
hiatus from volunteering as her college courses were just too over whelming along with work
and home/family responsibilities. Work is continuing remotely on Aircraft Accident files by the
team’s assistant team chief, Joe Mazzara and Lori is continuing to relabel and photograph the
museum’s artifacts (those currently on display, those recently removed from display, and those
in cold storage).
Grounds Team:
The Grounds Team volunteers have taken a hiatus for the winter and will hopefully be
back soon to start sprucing up the grounds for the Museum’s new season that begins on 10 April
2021.
Maintenance & Operations:
Our Maintenance & Acting Operations Team Chief, Gerry Ridener, is still taking it easy
for a while due to some health concerns. Gerry has been in and out around the Museum a little
bit over the winter. Until then, Roger Krings who retired as Assistant Director several years ago,
and serves on the Museum Board of Directors, has stepped in to try to fill Gerry’s shoes and
serve as Operations Director over Grounds, Air Park, Maintenance, and Restoration Teams.
Please sign up today!
High Flight 13 January – March 2021From the Archives
By Lori Nye
Women’s History Month – Michigan Connection
Michigan’s last surviving World War II Women Air Service Pilot dies at 97
Michigan’s last surviving World War II fly girl, Jane Doyle of Grand
Rapids has died. Doyle, who received the Congressional Gold Medal for
serving in the Women Airforce Service Program during World War II, was 97
years old when she died at Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital in Grand
Rapids.
Born Mildred Jane Baessler in Grand Rapids, she was a trailblazer, and
was among 1,102 women recruited to fly stateside for the U.S. Army Air
Forces during the war, freeing up male pilots to serve in combat. She was
among 38 Michigan women who served as WASP pilots during the war.
“The Women’s Airforce Service Pilots were groundbreaking in the same way that the
iconic Rosie the Riveters were – ine in flying and in building the aircraft,” Kristen Wildes,
Director of the Ada Historical Society, told the Free Press for a 2017 news story about Doyle.
“When the men left to serve in the war, these remarkable women stepped in to assist in
the war effort and get the jobs done. Through their dedication and service, the WASPs got a foot
in the door of a future that would slowly open to women in aviation.”
Doyle told the Free Press during a 2017 interview that her father, Karl Baessler, was a
German immigrant who worked for the Pere Marquette Railway. It was her mother, Emma
Baessler, who took her to see the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, when he came to Grand
Rapids in August 1927. She recalled hearing Lindbergh speak in the outdoor amphitheater at
John Ball Park. Doyle was just six years old.
It wasn’t until she enrolled in what was then Grand Rapids Junior College in 1939 that
Doyle considered flying an airplane was something she could do. “I was taking engineering
drawing and I was the only girl in the class,” Doyle said. “I was ordered to sit in the back in the
corner and the instructor came in and was talking to the fellas about this Civilian Pilot Training
Program. After the class, I went up and said, ‘How about women? Can I get in?’ And he said,
‘Well, Ill find out.’ And then he told me that woman could get in for every 10 men. Men had to
be 5-foot-4, but women could be 5-foot 2 ½. So I stretched, and passed the physical and into the
program that summer.””
By the fall of 1940, Doyle was enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and
flying with the Civil Air Patrol to keep her pilot’s license. When Pearl Harbor was attacked in
1941, Doyle’s brother, Fredrick Baessler, enlisted in the Navy as an officer serving on a
destroyer in the Pacific. Her sister joined the American Red Crodss. And, one day, a telegram
arrived. It was from Jacqueline Cochran, the founder of a flying program that was recruiting
female pilots from across the country to join the war efford. “I got a telegram asking, ‘was I
interested?’…I responded that I was interested. And then I got a notice that said…I had to go
pass a physical at Selfridge Field,” Doyle said. She passed the tests and made her way to Texas
High Flight 14 January – March 2021for seven months of training at Avenger Field in the town of Sweetwater. Cochrane was
insistent that her pilots would be training to fly every aircraft in service.
Altogether, Doyle and the other WASPs flew 60 million miles of operation flights from
1942-1944 and piloted 78 types of aircraft, according to Kimberly Johnson, the Director of
Special Collections at Texas Women’s University, the repository of historical information about
WASP pilots.
Because they weren’t considered part of the military at the time – they were civilians –
the WASPs hand to buy their own uniforms and cover the costs of traveling to the training center
and to their assigned bases. They had to pay rent and cover other expenses. And when a woman
died on the job – as 38 of them did – her family got nothing. “For those that were lost, whose
lives were given during the war, the government didn’t pay to get them back home, for their
families to lay them to rest. There was a lot of sacrifice, but they did so willingly.” Johnson said.
“What they did was open so many doors.”
Doyle met her husband, Donald Doyle, a flight instructor and check pilot, at Freemont
Field in Indiana in June 1944. “He had to check me out along with the engine,” she said,
chuckling. Two months after they met, Jane Baessler became Jane Doyle. “They said it
wouldn’t last a year,” Doyle said. Instead, it lasted 67 years and gave them five children, a
dozen grandchildren and 19 great- grandchildren.
Doyle didn’t do much flying after the WASP program was disbanded. “I rented a small
plane and flew around to keep my hours up … but I didn’t have any real purpose,” she said.
“And then we had a family and we settled down, and so I gave it up.”
Though she had a dress in design from the U of M College of Architecture, she worked at
a school for visually impaired children for a few years, then took a series of jobs for Aquinas
College.
Doyle was proud of the work she did during the war. “They call us pioneers, … the
women in different fields of aviation, even the astronauts and the gals in the military, they all
say, ‘If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be doing this today.’”
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a son, Patrick Doyle; a daughter,
Deanna Thompson; sisters, Doris Baessler and Arline Roe; and a brother, Fredrick Baessler. She
is survived by daughters, Laurie (Ken) Preston, Cathy (John) Olszewski, and Janice Holton along
with son-in-law, Craig Thompson, 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
(Source: Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, 2 February 2019)
High Flight 15 January – March 2021List of Women Air Service Pilots – Michigan Connection
Mildred “Jane” Baessler, Grand Rapids
Louise Brand, Grosse Pointe
Ruthmary Buckley, Kalamazoo
Sara Chapin, Grosse Pointe
Mary Coon Walters, Baraga
Suzanne Delano, Kalamazoo
Dorothy Dodd, Lansing
Doris Elkington, Highland Park
Marjorie Johnson, Belding
Joanne Blair, Detroit
Janice Gregg, Britton
Rosalie Grohman, Saginaw
Phyllis Jarman, Alpena
Virginia Krum, Detroit
Kaddy Landry Steele, Marquette
Bertha Link, Conklin
Nancy Love, Houghton
Beatrice Medes, Grand Rapids
Marie Mitchell Robinson, Troy
Louise Nash, Ferndale
B.J. Overman, Plymouth
Jean Person, Detroit
Emily Porter, Coopersville
Mabel Rawlinson, Kalamazoo
Jacquelyn Riley, Middleville
Mary Rosso, Kalamazoo
Phyllis Ryder, Muskegon
Sylvia Swartz Granader, Southfield
Mary Jane Stephens, Detroit
Phyllis Tobias, Berkley
Janet Wayne, Kalamazoo
Ruth Westheimer, Jackson
Violet Wierzbicki, Flint
Jane Wilson, Highland Park
Virginia Winson, Ann Arbor
Faye Wolfe, Grand Rapids
High Flight 16 January – March 2021Michigan Activity Pass:
The Selfridge Military Air Museum has joined the Michigan Activity Pass.
The pass will be: Buy one Adult, Get One Child (ages 4-12) Free. Check
the Michigan Activity Pass website: https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/ for
locating the Museum’s available pass for our 2020 Season. If you
haven’t checked-out the ‘Michigan Activity Pass’, you really are missing
some wonderful opportunities. There are some really great places to
visit for free or with reduced prices with the pass.
If you have never explored this website and used the Michigan
Activity Pass to locate a museum of interest to visit, it’s definitely something to explore!
Macomb County Heritage Alliance
Passport Program
The Selfridge Military Air Museum participated in the
Alliance’s ‘Passport Program’ at its debut a couple years
ago. The Alliance has restarted this program and passports
should be ready to be picked up at the Selfridge Military Air
Museum during our ‘open season’, which begins on
Saturday, 13 June 2020 through Saturday, 31 October 2020.
So, grab your Passport and travel through history by visiting
the local area’s museums and historical sites. For more
information on the program, visit:
(https://www.macombcountyheritagealliance.org/).
If you have never participated in this Passport Program that was first offered in 2018, it is
something to consider doing with your wife, children, grandchildren, or extended family
members. Passports are “FREE”, though there may be a small cost to visit the various
museums. Our Passport Program has ended for 2020, though the booklets are still available in
the Gift Shop and other historic sites and museums may still be open through December 2020,
if you’re interested in participating. Of course, visits will be under “new” restrictions due to
Covid.
Editorial Board:
Executive Director: Steven Mrozek
Editor: Lori Nye
High Flight 17 January – March 2021MAGHA MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
___ NEW MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
____ RENEWAL MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP:
____ PATRON MEMBERSHIP ($1,000.00)
____ SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP ($500.00)
____ LIFE MEMBERSHIP ($250.00)
____ REGULAR MEMBERSHIP ($25.00)
____ DONATION ONLY
RANK & NAME _______________________________________________________
UNIT OF AFFILIATION (ONLY ONE PLEASE) ___________________________________
MEMBER OF THE MI ANG/BRANCH OF SERVICE (YEARS ONLY) FROM _____ TO _____
ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________
CITY _______________________________ STATE ___________ ZIP CODE ___________
E-MAIL ADDRESS ________________________________________________________________
HOW WOULD YOU PREFER TO RECEIVE YOUR NEWSLETTER (PLEASE CHECK ONE)
____ By EMAIL ___By US MAIL* ___ Off website (www.selfridgeairmuseum.org)
*US Mail will require an additional payment of $10/year to help us offset the costs of printing & mailing
Complete your payment information below and mail to: MAGHA, 27333 C Street, Bldg 1011, Selfridge
ANG Base, MI 48045
Your support of MAGHA is gratefully appreciated and REMEMBER your membership donation is
IOO% TAX DEDUCTIBLE
MICHIGAN SOLICITATION LICENSE NUMBER: MICS 26603
O Check #________dated______ enclosed. Checks should be made payable to "MAGHA"
Please charge my:
O VISA CARD O MASTERCARD
O AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD O DISCOVER CARD
Account #___________________________________ Exp. Date: _________________ CVV: ______
Signature: _________________________________________________________________________
High Flight 18 January – March 2021You can also read
