# R.I.P. Jerrie Mock

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-jerrie-mock/700125>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 1, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-jerrie-mock/700125 "2014-10-01T20:14:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-jerrie-mock/700125/1 "2014-10-01T20:14:06Z")

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[Geraldine ‘Jerrie’ Mock has died at the age of 88](http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/10/01/jerrie-mock-obituary.html).

She was the first woman to fly solo around the world, in 1964 in a 1953 Cessna 180.

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**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-jerrie-mock/700125/2 "2014-10-01T20:56:15Z")

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My Mother knew her.  
Mom & my older sister were both pilots.

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-jerrie-mock/700125/3 "2014-10-01T21:16:14Z")

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It’s almost a shame she chose to return to the private life she had when she chose to do make the flight. She could have been a national hero and celebrity, and a role model for girls and young women still stuck in the 60’s, instead of just someone only aviation nuts ever even heard of. She let herself be promoted as a housewife with a cute hobby, not a pilot who also raised a family.

You can see the “Spirit of Columbus” hanging in the Smithsonian at Dulles, if you get there.

Have a wonderful last flight, Jerrie.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-jerrie-mock/700125/4 "2014-10-01T21:22:04Z")

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> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> It’s almost a shame she chose to return to the private life she had when she chose to do make the flight. She could have been a national hero and celebrity, and a role model for girls and young women still stuck in the 60’s, instead of just someone only aviation nuts ever even heard of.

I don’t know if it influenced my late mother, but mom worked at Gibbs Flying Service in San Diego from the late-'60s into… the '80s? She got her pilot’s certificate, too; probably around 1969. If Jerrie _was_ an influence on my mom, then she’s partly responsible for my growing up with airplanes.