Ruth Jefford
- Jim Hurst
- Jack Jefford
Ruth Martin Jefford (July 16, 1914 – January 9, 2007) was an air taxi pilot in the U.S. state of Alaska and the first woman licensed to be a flight instructor out of Merrill Field. Jefford was a violinist who became a co-founder of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. During World War II, she entertained at the United Service Organizations in Alaska and transported medical supplies for the Red Cross Motor Corp. She was the first woman in Alaska to receive the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. She was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame in 2009.
Early life
Ruth Martin was born July 16, 1914, in Des Moines, Iowa. Her mother arranged flying lessons for the 16-year-old Ruth when they lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she learned to solo in instructor Jim Hurst's Arrow Sport airplane. Fellow pilot Jack Jefford recruited Hurst for a job with the Civil Aeronautics Authority. Jack Jefford moved to Alaska in 1937.[1] Ruth married Hurst, and in 1941 the couple moved to Alaska, where he continued with the CAA.
Alaska
When they moved to Alaska, the December 7, 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor had just happened, and the United States had entered World War II. Early on, she met Lorene Harrison, at the time a choir director for a local church. Harrison, learning that Ruth was a violinist, involved her in the local United Service Organizations (USO) efforts to entertain the military. Harrison would go on to serve on many cultural boards in the state and have a room at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts named after her.[2] Ruth became part of the Red Cross Motor Corps during the war, delivering medical supplies.[3] Ruth and Jim Hurst bought a 1941 Taylorcraft airplane and began International Air Taxi Service out of Merrill Field. In addition to carrying mail deliveries and transporting people, Ruth became the first female licensed flight instructor operating out of Merrill Field. The couple continued to be business partners, even after they divorced in 1961. In 1971, Ruth married Jack Jefford, and they formed the Valley Air Transport.[4]
In the 1940s, Ruth was one of seven musicians who formed the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. She spent the next 38 years as the symphony's concert master.
Death
Ruth M. Jefford died on January 9, 2007, and was buried at Anchorage Memorial Park. Jack Jefford died in 1979.
Awards
Ruth Jefford received the Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award in 2006, the first woman in Alaska to receive it. The award is granted to certified pilots in the United States who have been deemed to have practiced safe flight operations for 50 years or more.[5] As of July 2012, there were 38 male Alaskan pilots who received the award, but Jefford has remained the only woman in Alaska so honored.[6] She was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame in 2009.[7]
In 2009, Jack and Ruth Jefford as a team were inducted into the Alaska Aviation Museum's Hall of Fame.[1]
References
- ^ a b "2009 Hall of Fame Inductee". Alaska Aviation Museum. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ "Lorene Harrison". Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ "'Volunteer for Red Cross Motor Corps' 1944 Poster". Olive-Drab. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ Sumner, Sandi (2008). Women Pilots Of Alaska: 37 Interviews And Profiles. McFarland. pp. 29–34. ISBN 978-0-7864-1937-1. OCLC 57208761.
- ^ "Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ "Jefford's Wright Brothers Master Pilor Award". FAA.
- ^ "Ruth Jefford". Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- v
- t
- e
of 2009
- Changunak Antisarlook Andrewuk (Sinrock Mary)
- Evangeline Atwood
- Lydia Black
- Rita (Pitka) Blumenstein
- Tikasuk "Emily" Brown (Ivanoff)
- Thelma Buchholdt
- Edith Bullock
- Susan Butcher
- Ellen "Nellie" Cashman
- Orah Dee Clark
- Carol Comeau
- Marvel Crosson
- Mahala Ashley Dickerson
- Neva Egan
- Dana Fabe
- Kay Fanning
- Helen Fischer
- Lucy Frey
- Nora Venes Guinn
- Dorothy Awes Haaland
- Lorene Harrison
- Cornelia Hatcher
- Mildred Robinson Hermann
- Frances Howard
- Celia Hunter
- Katie Hurley
- Sarah Agnes James
- Ruth Jefford
- Della Keats
- Lena Morrow Lewis
- Wilda Marston
- Blanche L. McSmith
- Rie Muñoz
- Lisa Murkowski
- Sadie Neakok
- Katherine Nordale
- Sarah Palin
- Elizabeth Peratrovich
- Sisters of Providence
- Mary Louise Rasmuson
- Irene Ryan
- Grace Berg Schaible
- Nell Scott
- Lidia Selkregg
- Natalya Shelikof
- Arliss Sturgulewski
- Dora M. Sweeney
- Fran Ulmer
- Ada Wien
- Esther Wunnicke
of 2010
- Alberta Daisy Schenck Adams
- Alice Brown
- Nora Marks Dauenhauer (Keixwnéi)
- Bettye J. Davis
- Hazel P. Heath
- Shirley Holloway
- Marlene Johnson (Slath Jaa Klaa Lákooti)
- Georgianna Lincoln
- Ethel Lund (Aan Wugeex’)
- Marge Mullen
- Helen Nienhueser
- Jo Ryman Scott
- Mary Taylor "Tay" Pryor Thomas
- Elizabeth Ann "Betsy" Tower
- Virginia "Ginny" Hill Wood
of 2011
- Elaine Abraham
- Katharine "Kit" Crittenden
- Betti Cuddy
- Nan Elaine "Lanie" Fleischer
- Joerene Savikko Hout
- Lael Morgan
- Ruth Elin Hall Ost
- Leah Webster Peterson
- Martha M. Roderick
- Clare Swan
- Peg Tileston
- Helen Stoddard Whaley
- Caroline Wohlforth
- Patricia B. Wolf
of 2012
- Audrey Aanes
- Gretchen T. Bersch
- Connie Boochever
- Carolyn Floyd
- Wilda G. "Burch" Hudson
- Carolyn E. Jones
- Louise Kellogg
- Ellen Evak Paneok
- Sharon Richards
- Irene Sparks Rowan
- Lisa Howell Starr Rudd
- Susan L. Ruddy
- Hannah Paul Solomon
- Pauline Utter
- Rosita Worl
- Leonie von Meusebach–Zesch
of 2013
- Arne (Buckley) Beltz
- Judith "Judy" (King) Brady
- Daphne Elizabeth Brown
- Carolyn (Huntsman) Covington
- Diddy R. M. (Seyd) Hitchins
- Karen L. (Lueck) Hunt
- Joan Hurst
- Dorothy M. (Knee) Jones
- Jewel Jones
- Mary Joyce
- Thelma (Perse) Langdon
- Emily Morgan
- Ruth E. Moulton
- Marie (Matsuno) Nash
- S. Anne Newell
of 2014
- Eleanor Andrews
- Jane Ruth Angvik
- Beverly D. Dunham
- Mary Jane (Evans) Fate
- Katie John
- V. Kay Lahdenpera
- Janie Leask (Gyetm Wilgoosk)
- Kay Muriel (Townsend) Linton
- Jane Vallett Sutherland Niebergall
- Verna E. Pratt
- Barbara Sweetland Smith
- Francine Conat Lastufka Taylor
- Gertrude M. Wolfe
of 2015
- Laura Mae (Beltz) Bergt
- Daisy Lee (Andersen) Bitter
- L. Arlene "Buddy" Clay
- Lucy Evelyn (Huie Hon) Cuddy
- Marie (Hanna) Darlin
- Dolly Farnsworth
- Alice Johnstone
- Alice Dove (Montgomery) Kull
- Marie (Nick) Meade (Arnaq)
- Ramona Gail (McIver) Phillips
- Ruth Anne Marie Schmidt
- Ann Mary (Cherrington) Stevens
- Elvera Voth
of 2016
- Annie Aghnaqa (Akeya) Alowa
- Kathleen Dalton
- Sandy Harper
- Juanita Lou Helms
- Crystal Brilliant Jenne
- Margy K. Johnson
- Eliza Peter Jones
- Anne P. Lanier
- Janet McCabe
- Jo Michalski
- Alice Petrivelli
- Shirley Mae Staten
- Nancy Sydnam
of 2017
- Dixie Johnson Belcher
- Katheryn Brown
- Paula Easley
- Elizabeth Fuller Elsner
- Kay Muriel Townsend Linton
- Tennys Thornton Bowers Owens
- Elizabeth Parent
- Cathryn Robertson Rasmuson
- Teri Rofkar
- Elsa Saladino Malapit Sargento
- Kathryn Dyakanoff Seller
- Ann Mary Cherrington Stevens
- Carol Swartz
of 2018
- Poldine Carlo
- Jeanmarie Larson Crumb
- Frederica de Laguna
- Mary Laurie Espinosa Epperson
- Alice Stevenson Green
- Lorrie Louise Angelo Horning
- Mary Lou King
- Margaret Lowe
- Edna Ahgeak MacLean
- Dorothy G. Page
- Michelle Ridgeway
- Beatrice Rose
of 2019
- Virginia Blanchard
- Marie Qaqaun Carroll
- Heather Flynn
- Abigale Hensley
- Beverly Hoffman
- Mary K. Hughes
- Roxanna Lawer
- Vera Metcalf
- Mary Pete
- Margaret Pugh
of 2020
- Monica M Anderson
- Reyne Marie Athanas
- Sarah Eliassen
- April S. Ferguson
- Maragret Norma (Campbell) Goodman
- Ann “Nancy” (Desmond) Gross
- Karleen (Alstead) Grummett
- Jennifer “Jane” Wainwright Mears
- Peggy Mullen
- Sandy Poulson
- Frances Helaine Rose
- Judith “Judi” Anne Slajer
of 2021
- Agnes Coyle
- Brideen Crawford Milner
- Linda Curda
- Lynn E. Hartz
- Ermalee Hickel
- Barbara Hood
- Lucille Hope
- Margaret Murie
- Cindy Roberts
- Mary Ann Warden
of 2022
- Barbara Berner
- Pat Branson
- Etheldra Davis
- Shirley Fraser
- Brenda Itta-Lee
- DeeDee Ann Stout Jonrowe
- Becky Parker
- Karen Perdue
- Sheila Toomey
- Roxy Wright
of 2023
- Adelheid Becker
- carolyn V. Brown
- Victoria D'Amico
- Hiroko Harada
- Dorothy Isabell
- Ada Johnson
- Diane Kaplan
- Mary Navitsky
- Esther Petrie
- Libby Riddles
- Martha Rutherford