Charles H. Blosser (September 7, 1895 – December 30, 1989) was the namesake of Blosser Municipal Airport in Concordia, Kansas. A longtime airplane enthusiast, Blosser owned and ran the airport privately until transferring it to the city of Concordia. Blosser moved to

Norway, Kansas Norway is an unincorporated community in Republic County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community and nearby areas was 17. It is located south of Scandia at Norway Lane and K-148 highway. History The fir ...

, from Saline County, Missouri. On October 20, 1921, he was married to Isabell A. Collins at Belleville.

Aviation accomplishments

In 1930, Blosser laid the first dirt airstrip on his farm on what would become Blosser Municipal Airport. He later donated the land to the city for airport use. In 1935, Blosser was honored by the Concordia Chamber of Commerce for his "heroic services during the

Republican River The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains (United States), High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline ...

flood" in June of that year. Blosser would fly over flooded areas, acted as a spotter for rescue boats, dropped food to stranded individuals and acted as a shuttle service by flying people back and forth across the flooded river. Blosser is credited with rescuing twenty-eight people from the flood. In 1988, he was awarded the Kansas Governor's Aviation Honors Award and was inducted into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 1990. At one time, he was the oldest living licensed pilot in the United States. Blosser was instrumental in making Kansas a member of the National Bureau of Reclamation and in working with the late Senator Frank Carlson and the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

in getting flood control along the Republican River.

Local politics

Blosser was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Concordia and served a term from 1931 to 1933.Emery, Janet Pease (1970a), ''It Takes People to Make a Town'', p30 Salina, Kansas: Arrow Printing Company. Library of Congress number 75-135688

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blosser, Charles H. 1895 births 1989 deaths People from Concordia, Kansas People from Republic County, Kansas American aviators Mayors of places in Kansas