In 1955 I joined Northwest Airlines, St. Paul, MN, at Northwest' Headquarters, to work as a secretary for the Vice President of Customer Service. I worked in that department for two years. I then attended a six-week training to become a stewardess with Northwest. I was based in Minneapolis, MN, and the airport was called Wold-Chamberlain Field. I flew to both the East and West Coasts incorporating the New York, Seattle, Miami areas. There were approximately 300 flight attendants based in Minneapolis. I continued as a stewardess until the end of July, 1960. (During that era one was forced to quit upon becoming married. I married your father and moved to Falls Church, VA, in 1960.)

In July 1976 I belonged to a former stewardess club in the Washington, DC area called the "Diamond Wings". This group consisted of stewardesses from a variety of airlines, (Northwest, Pan Am, National, TWA, Eastern, etc.) Our Club was asked by the Smithsonian's curator if we would participate in the ceremonies of the ribbon cutting for the new Air-Space Museum, in Washington, DC. We were in uniform and passed hors d'oeuvres to the visiting VIP's. Astronaut, Mike Collins, was the Director of the Air-Space Museum at that time, and he autographed a photo that was taken of us with him at the opening of the museum in July 1976. It was a real honor to be a participant.

My next association with the airline industry began January 30, 1978. I joined Allegheny Airlines and worked as a secretary for the Director of Scheduling in the Marketing Department. The office was in a hangar at Washington National Airport. In 1979 I was promoted to Executive Secretary to the Executive Vice President and Vice President-Commuter Services Department. I supported both of these gentlemen and four others in the department until 1989. During this period I was the administrative liaison for ten regional commuter airlines under contract to USAir (the airline had a name change October 28, 1979, to USAir.)

In 1989 a position became available for Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman. Twenty-five applicants were finalists for this position, and after several tests and interviews I was awarded the position. In 1989 USAir moved to its new Headquarters in Crystal City, Arlington, VA, within view of what is now Reagan National Airport.

I was the Executive Assistant to Seth Schofield, the EVP, Office of the Chairman, USAir, in 1989. Mr. Schofield ultimately was selected as the President of USAir and asked me to accompany him to his new assignment. He was then promoted to Chairman & Chief Executive Officer and I worked for him as his Assistant until his retirement in January 1996. As Mr. Schofield's Executive Assistant I was responsible for the Chairman's complex and frequent travel arrangements. I organized details including commercial and charter flights, ground transportation and hotel accommodations. I scheduled all arrangements for the Chairman's Out-of-State and International board meetings. I made all arrangements pertaining to USAir's quarterly Board of Directors' meetings. This included planning hotel accommodations, dinner menu, ground transportation to/from hotel for the individual Board Members. I screened all incoming phone calls and correspondence and answered or redirected customer phone calls and correspondence to the appropriate departments. I was also responsible for supervising two secretaries and prioritized their workload for the Executive Office.

Upon Mr. Schofield's retirement in January 1996, Stephen M. Wolf became the new Chairman & CEO. The airline's name was changed to US Airways during his tenure. I assisted Mr. Wolf in his transition to the Arlington Executive Office and continued as his Executive Assistant until I retired from US Airways July 1, 1996.