Suzanne "Sue" Upjohn DeLano Parish (November 13, 1922 – May 12, 2010) was an American aviator. Parish was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1977, with her husband, Pete Parish, she was the co-founder of the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, later known as the

Air Zoo The Air Zoo, founded as the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, is an aviation museum and indoor amusement park next to the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport in Portage, Michigan. The Air Zoo holds many historical and rare aircraft, inc ...

, after the animal nicknames of the planes.

Early life

Parish was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the daughter of Dorothy Upjohn DeLano Dalton and H. Allan DeLano. Parish was the maternal granddaughter of William E. Upjohn, the founder of

The Upjohn Company The Upjohn Company was a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm founded in 1886 in Hastings, Michigan, by Dr. William E. Upjohn who was an 1875 graduate of the University of Michigan medical school. The company was originally formed to make ''friable ...

, the Michigan pharmaceutical manufacturing company. In 1942, Parish attended

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...

Career

Parish learned to fly in 1941, when she was 19 years old. From the time she was 19 to 21, she had accumulated 350 hours in the air.

Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs)

When she was 21, Parish joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). She was in the 44-W-6 class and was stationed at Bryan Army Air Base near Bryan,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, where she flew

P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

, AT-6, and

BT-13 The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the B ...

planes.

Post-World War II

After the war, Parish attempted to get a job as a commercial pilot, to no avail. After marrying Pete Parish in 1948 she had five children and was a full-time mom. In 1958, when her husband purchased a share in a single engine 35C Bonanza, she decided to take up flying once more. She and her husband soon purchased a Stearman, an AT-6, and a

Grumman Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...

. The last plane they purchased was the

. In 1971, Parish was Vice President of Kal-Aero, Inc., the company she and her husband founded in Kalamazoo.

Air Zoo

In 1977, she and her husband co-founded the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, which came to be known as the

, near the airport at

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The nucleus of the collection was their own planes.

Air shows

Parish flew a pink

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

in several air shows for over 25 years, until she reached her 70s. Deciding that she could no longer handle the G-forces, she flew in her final air show in October of 1993. She continued to fly her Beechcraft

Beechcraft T-34 Mentor The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor is an American propeller-driven, single-engined, military trainer aircraft derived from the Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. The earlier versions of the T-34, dating from around the late 1940s to the 1950s, were piston- ...

Legacy

Her signature pink P-40 hangs in the entrance to the Air Zoo.

Personal life

In 1948, Parish married Preston "Pete" Parish. They had two daughters, Barbie Parish and Katie Miller, and three sons, Will Parish, Pres Parish, and Dave Parish. She also had 14 grandchildren. In 1991, the marriage ended in divorce.

Death

Parish died on May 13, 2010, at Smoke Tree Ranch in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Honors

On November 2, 1977, President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

passed Public Law 95-202, which gave those that served in the WASP program military veteran status. They were previously considered civilians. In July 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

signed a bill that gave the WASPs the

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

Memberships

*1970: Kalamazoo Civic Theatre– Trustee *1979: Nazareth College – Board Member *1981: Holderness School – Board Member *1981: P-40 Warhawk Pilots Association – Past President, Historian (from 1981) *1985: Michigan Space Center – Board of Governors Member *1991: Kalamazoo Institute Arts – Board Member *Flying Tigers Association – Life, Honorary affiliate *Kalamazoo Civic Players – Member *Warbirds American – Board Member, Member *William DeLano Memorial Clinic, Offender Aid and Restoration Association – Board Member

Works and publications

References

External links

Suzanne Parish
at

Suzanne Parish
at th
Women's Airforce Service Pilots Digital Archive
at

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a public coeducational university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, it is the largest state-supported u ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parish, Suzanne 1922 births 2010 deaths Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel Aviators from New York (state) Sarah Lawrence College alumni 21st-century American women