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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

1933 - I have always been enthusiastic about aviation from the time my father gave me Charles
Lindbergh's plane, a toy, from the Chicago World's Fair of 1933 that he flew to Paris. From that
time on, I played with planes, saw all of the aviation movies, and still do.
1937 - I watched the Zepplin, Hindenburg, fly over my apartment building in Chicago. I have read
all the stories about space and flight and wanted to be a woman pilot for many years.
During high school, I met my husband to be in 1941, but he graduated to join the Air Corps and
became a test pilot. He wrote and kept me advised of all the planes he flew, so I was with him
always on those flights.
1947-1951- I worked for 5th Army Headquarters in Chicago. Our entire floor was sent to Tokyo,
Japan with General Walker where we worked and some of the girls that could dance and sing
helped AI Jolson in his USO shows entertaining the troops at the hospital during the Korean
War. We took over a lot of jobs when the soldiers went to fight. We came home on a troop ship
with 32,000 men and 28 girls.
1951- M.E. Kopriva and I were married in Chicago. He flew troops from Korea for several years.
1953 - Ed flew for Mr. Harris (Toni Products & Brunswick Corporation) to Europe on several
trips.
1960 - We moved to St. Louis to fly for Anheuser Busch. Ed flew a Gulfstream Jet all over the
U.S.A, Canada, Europe, and the Islands.
Our 2 sons graduated from Parks Aeronautical College and both work for the government. One
at Lambert Field the other is a Senior Reactor Inspector for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. He helped build them and now he inspects them.
My husband has many vintage planes in several museums all over the United States and we
were able to visit most of them. The middle stone in front of the National Air and Space
Museum in Washington D.C. has his name, M.E. Kopriva on it with the American Flag above it.
We are so proud.

To finish out the year of flying, my husband was Chief Pilot of Southern Illinois University. I miss
57 years of aviation talk and activity. It was an exciting time.