Philippine Civil Aviation Scrapbook Edith Dizon

Edith Albaladejo Dizon Fitzsimmons (1922--2014) was a music teacher, writer, and pilot in the Philippines and later Australia. This collection consists of a scrapbook created by Edith Albaladejo Dizon Fitzsimmons that documents both her life and career, but also civil aviation in the Philippines more generally.

Edith Albaladejo Dizon Fitzsimmons (1922--2014) was a music teacher, writer, and pilot in the Philippines and later Australia. Dizon began flying in 1959, receiving instruction at the Philippine Air Transport Service (PATS) in Manila. Dizon received private pilot license no. 1202. In addition to being an active pilot, Dizon was also an organist for several churches as well as a music teacher, served for a time as a public relations officer for the Philippines Civil Aeronautics Administration, and was a free-lance writer who published numerous articles about her experiences as a pilot and the difficulties facing women pilots in general, as well as general aviation-related articles. These endeavors helped Dizon support her six children after the death of her first husband, D. Paulo Dizon. In 1967, Edith Dizon joined the Ninety-Nines and the Philippine Airmen's Organization (of which she was a member) provided funding for her to be able to attend the Ninety-Nines convention in the United States that year. Also in 1967, Dizon was the only female pilot on a goodwill flight to Sabah, Borneo that was sponsored by the Philippine Airmen's Organization. Dizon also held a record in the Philippines for high altitude flight in a light aircraft, having reached 13,120 feet without the use of oxygen. In 1970, Dizon emigrated with her children to Australia where she worked as the public relations officer for the Mission of St James and St John in Melbourne before marrying her second husband Ray Fitzsimmons and moving to Shepparton, Victoria in 1973. Together they were responsible for the creation of Philippines House at the International Village there. In the 1990s, Dizon traveled to the United States to complete a master's degree in music therapy and enrolled in a doctoral program in women's studies at La Trobe University upon her return to Australia in 1995. Dizon also continued to teach music, perform as an organist, and lecture. Dizon celebrated her 70th, 80th, and 85th birthdays with parachute jumps. In 1998, Dizon published a book of essays on her philosophy of life entitled, The Sky's the Limit. Dizon founded the Goulburn Valley Organ Club, the Filipino-Australian Friends Association, and the Goulburn Valley Multicultural Youth Singing Bell Choir, and was the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Pamana Ng Pilipino Presidential Award for Filipino Individuals Overseas (2000), the Centenary Medal to commemorate the Federation of Australia (2001), and the Victoria Senior Australian of the Year award (2002). Dizon was also selected to be portrayed on postage stamps as part of the Australia Post's "Face of Australia" series in 2000 and was the subject of a documentary produced in 2002 by Central Philippine University.