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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:

Mary E. and William A. Wesche Jr

Mary E. Wesche
Mary E. Wesche was first employed in the aviation industry during the latter part of World War II as an airline information specialist at LaGuardia Airport. She maintained a rapport with the tower controllers who occasionally allowed her to work air traffic during off-peak hours. This initial experience led to a position, in 1946, as an Air Traffic Controller at Republic Aviation Corp's control tower on its private field in Farmingdale, L.I., N.Y. At the time, with ATC in its infancy, the federalized Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) only hired male controllers. Republic's private status enabled her to work as one of the world's very first female controllers. There, she met, and incidentally trained, her future husband Bill, a recently discharged WWII B-17 pilot also working as a controller while awaiting assignment to a test pilot position. Family demands necessitated her departure from ATC in October, 1947

William A. Wesche Jr
William A. Wesche Jr. served in World War II (WWII) as a B17 Command Pilot in the 15th Air Force, 301st Bomb Group, 353rd Squadron. While based in Foggia, Italy, he flew 18 combat missions in the Mediterranean Theater over The Balkans, Central Europe, Northern Apennines, and Rome ARNO.

In autumn, 1945, he was discharged a 1st Lt with the Air Medal and European, African, and Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbons. He met his future wife Mary soon after starting employment with The Republic Aviation Corp. in his hometown of Farmingdale, L.I, N.Y., as, initially, an Air Traffic Controller, then as a Production Test Pilot (chiefly for the RC-3 Seabee Amphibian), working at times alongside such luminaries as Chuck Yeager, Carl Bellinger, and Arthur Godfrey.

By December, 1947, now with a young family, Bill signed on with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) as a controller at Barnes (BAF) Control Tower, Westfield, Mass. In 1951, he transferred to Idlewild (IDL)/NY Int'l Airport Control Tower (now JFK) in Jamaica, L.I., N.Y., and worked as a senior controller until his promotion, in 1957, to Watch Supervisor. While there, Bill participated in the development, testing, and establishment of the "Departure Control Sector" concept/position of operation which is, today, the standard configuration found in ATC radar facilities worldwide.

During a mid 1950s controller shortage in the NY area, Bill, on his days off, routinely worked undermanned shifts at The McArthur (ISP) Control Tower, in Islip, L.I., N.Y. On December 16, 1960, Bill was the ranking supervisor on duty at IDL when a now famous mid-air collision occurred, during a snowstorm, between a TWA Super Connie and a UAL DC-8 over Staten Island, NY. In 1961, following a lengthy CAA accident inquiry, in which UAL and TWA shared fault, Bill answered a bid to Bradley (BDL) Airport Control Tower, in Windsor Locks, CT where he served as a Watch Supervisor/Assistant Chief, until his retirement from the FAA in January of 1979.