NOTEWORTHY DEATHS

First female pilot to solo around globe

Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, the Ohio housewife who 50 years ago became the first female pilot to fly solo around the world, has died. She was 88.

Mock died in her sleep Tuesday at her home in Quincy, Fla., after being in failing health for months, her grandson Chris Flocken said Wednesday.

Mock flew her single-engine Cessna 180 “Spirit of Columbus” 23,000 miles in 29-plus days before landing in Ohio’s capital city on April 17, 1964.

Dubbed “the flying housewife” at the time, the Newark, Ohio, native was a mother of three in suburban Columbus but also was an experienced pilot who studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University. She spent months planning her flight with aviation experts and veteran pilots.

A life-size bronze statue depicting Mock holding a globe was unveiled in April at Port Columbus airport on the 50th anniversary of her flight. The anniversary was also commemorated with an exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum.

During her flight, she had radio and brake problems, ran into bad weather and landed by mistake at an Egyptian military base. Her most harrowing moment was when she noticed a burning wire while flying over a desert in the Middle East, but was able to switch it off and cool it down as she considered what could have happened on a plane carrying extra fuel.

Flocken said Mock didn’t want a funeral service, but asked to be cremated and have her ashes scattered from a plane flying over the Gulf of Mexico.

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