Let me pay homage to Evelyn Bryant Johnson, who died May 11 at age 102. She was flight instructor and airport manager at Morristown Airport for many years, and she taught my husband and me to fly, back in the 1960s. She was a remarkable woman.
She started flying in the 1940s, taking lessons at Island Airport in Knoxville. It became her passion. Eventually earning her flight instructor rating, she ended up at Morristown. By the time we knew her, she was already a legend. She was active in the 99s, the women's pilot orginization founded by Amerlia Earhart. She flew in the Powder Puff Derby.
Just last year she spoke at First Broad Street Methodist Church in Kingsport, sharing some of her experiences. She was a devoutly religious woman. She didn't remember us that Wednesday night, but we went down to visit last summer, and she finally did remember us. She introduced us to flying, an activitity that filled much of our lives with great pleasure.
I used to say, flying was the closest thing to poetry I found in the real world.
My husband would laugh at the two of us as we climbed into the Cessna 150 for my flying lesson, loaded with pillows so we could see over the nose of the airplane. It was over an hour's drive from Oak Ridge, where we lived at the time, but Morristown Airpport and Ms. Johnson made the trip worth while--every weekend. Our children, five and eight at the time, learned to ride their bicycles while we took our lessons.
If you want to learn more about Evelyn Johnson, there's a book, Mama Bird.
She will be sorely missed. She was much loved.
She started flying in the 1940s, taking lessons at Island Airport in Knoxville. It became her passion. Eventually earning her flight instructor rating, she ended up at Morristown. By the time we knew her, she was already a legend. She was active in the 99s, the women's pilot orginization founded by Amerlia Earhart. She flew in the Powder Puff Derby.
Just last year she spoke at First Broad Street Methodist Church in Kingsport, sharing some of her experiences. She was a devoutly religious woman. She didn't remember us that Wednesday night, but we went down to visit last summer, and she finally did remember us. She introduced us to flying, an activitity that filled much of our lives with great pleasure.
I used to say, flying was the closest thing to poetry I found in the real world.
My husband would laugh at the two of us as we climbed into the Cessna 150 for my flying lesson, loaded with pillows so we could see over the nose of the airplane. It was over an hour's drive from Oak Ridge, where we lived at the time, but Morristown Airpport and Ms. Johnson made the trip worth while--every weekend. Our children, five and eight at the time, learned to ride their bicycles while we took our lessons.
If you want to learn more about Evelyn Johnson, there's a book, Mama Bird.
She will be sorely missed. She was much loved.
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