COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Newark woman who became the first female pilot to fly solo around the world has died. Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock was 88.
Mock’s grandson, Chris Flocken, said Wednesday that she died at her home in Quincy, Florida, on Tuesday after being in failing health for months.
A life-sized statue of Mock was unveiled in April at Port Columbus airport.
Mock flew her single-engine Cessna 180 “Spirit of Columbus” 23,000 miles in 29-plus days before landing in Ohio’s capital city on April 17, 1964. On her trip, she made stops in Casablanca, Cairo and Calcutta.
Dubbed “the flying housewife” at the time, the native of Newark, Ohio, was a suburban mother of three but also an experienced pilot who studied aeronautical engineering at Ohio State University.