Virginia Crawford Thacker
March 12, 1921 ?€“ February 3, 2010

Virginia Crawford Thacker embodied a spirit of adventure and demonstrated what it meant to be a role model her entire life. She was a legend in her community.

Virginia was the only female to participate in the aviation science program during the 1939 ?€“ 1940 school year at Louisiana Tech University. She successfully soloed a Piper J-3 Cub on May 22, 1940 obtaining her private pilot license. Her license reads: Airman Certificate No. 29493-40. It was issued by the Civil Aeronautics Authority that same day.

A few years later, she was asked to be a WASP. But by that time, she was married, her husband was serving in Patton?€™s 3rd Army, and she had 2 small children at home. It did not work out, but she was always very proud of having been asked. Visiting with the other women of the time who did fly as WASPs was always one of the highlights of her annual trip to the EAA Convention in Oshkosh, WI.

With the support of her husband, she built an airport outside of Oil City, Louisiana. She was the airport manager for over 50 years. Her unbridled enthusiasm for aviation combined with her desire to explore helped to eliminate misperceptions about flying. Over the years, she hosted functions at the airport for the Experimental Aircraft Association, the Shreveport Soaring Club, and many others. Even though she was past the traditional retirement age, she was always learning and always making new memories. She said that ?€?you do not retire from something but to something.?€? She was thoroughly enchanted and completely delighted when she went hang gliding for the first time at age 83!

Her legacy lives on in her children, one private pilot, one military pilot, and two airline Captains.
She touched the lives of hundreds of schoolchildren during her years as a school bus driver. Her influence is evident in her extended family and friends, and most especially, in the grandchildren and the people who ?€?hung out?€? at the airport, listened to her stories, and became pilots. They continue to carry the joy of flying forward with them in their hearts and into the future.