Foil: 7 Panel: 2 Column: 1 Line: 101

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Judge Burt Cosgrove

Mrs. Cosgrove was first woman to fly in China
Mrs. Mildred Cosgrove, the first woman to pilot a plane in China, helped set up the" original Blood Bank in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Mrs. Cosgrove, 66, died yesterday in an Albuquerque hospital after an illness.
She was the wife of Col. C. B. Cosgrove, 801 Loma Linda Place SE.
Born Feb. 16, 1906, in Ridgewood, N.J., she had lived in Albuquerque since 1956 when Col. Cosgrove retired.
The Cos groves married in 1931.
They spent a year's honeymoon in China.
Cosgrove had taught his wife to fly before they were married.
In China, they were given a Ford Tri-motor plane. Mrs. Cosgrove learned to fly it and often took sightseeing trips alone.
He said she was the first woman to pilot a plane in China.
Cosgrove said that he and his wife traveled all over the world during the 30 years he was in the Air Force and Army.
During World War II she set up the original Blood Bank in Beverly Hills, Calif., he said.
She also served as a nurse's aide at Walter Reed Hospital when they were in Washington, D.C. She was a member of St. Mark's-on-the-Mesa Episcopal Church.
She enjoyed oil painting. Her husband is one of the co-founders of the well-known E.
Cosgrove Co. of Silver City. He moved to Silver City in 1907 with his parents from Kansas as a child.
Cosgrove was one of the Army's first flyers. He entered the service after attending the University of Arizona.
Col. and Mrs. Cosgrove moved to Albuquerque in June 1941 when he was with the 19th Bombardment Group from March Field, Calif.
Cosgrove's organization helped establish Kirtland AF Base.
Surviving besides her husband is a son, C. B. Cosgrove III of Tucson.
Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Strong-Thorne Mortuary. The Rev. Charles Fish will officiate.