COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 1, 2014)—Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world, died in her sleep yesterday at her home in Quincy, Florida, at the age of 88.
“America has lost a pioneering hero,” said Douglas F. Kridler, president and CEO of The Columbus Foundation, which for two years has been championing the revival of Jerrie’s story.
“Jerrie was ahead of her time in encouraging women and girls to dream about high goals. She set an example by setting records. The central Ohio community will miss her, but we’ll never forget her accomplishments,” Kridler said.
Geraldine Fredritz Mock was born in Newark, Ohio, on November 22, 1925 to Timothy J. Fredritz and Blanche Wright Fredritz. Known as “Jerrie,” she graduated from Newark High School in 1943 and attended The Ohio State University in Columbus where she majored in Aeronautical Engineering. She left college to marry Russell Mock in 1945. They lived in Bexley, a Columbus suburb, when Ms. Mock made her historic flight.
At age 38 she became the first woman to fly around the globe solo. With less than 700 flight hours of experience, Ms. Mock took off from Port Columbus International Airport on March 19, 1964 in her Cessna 180 named the “Spirit of Columbus.” After 29 days and 21 stops, she covered more than 23,000 miles to land back at Port Columbus on April 17, 1964.
Not long after she landed, Ms. Mock remarked, “I hope that somewhere here and there, just my doing something that hadn’t been done, will encourage someone else who wants to do something very much, and hasn’t quite had the heart to try it.”
Her achievements were recognized by international aviation organizations. Three weeks after her trek, she was honored in the White House Rose Garden by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who bestowed upon her the FAA Gold Medal for Exceptional Service.
“As a housewife and a mother, Mrs. Mock demonstrates that the progress of our society, the promise of our system, can be fulfilled only if women are given the opportunity to utilize fully their talents and energies in meeting the great challenges of our day,” President Johnson said.
In achieving her solo mark, Ms. Mock also set the around-the-world speed record for her plane’s weight class; became the first woman to fly both the Atlantic and Pacific; and became the first woman to cross the Pacific in a single-engine plane in either direction.
In 2013, The Columbus Foundation created The Spirit of Columbus Award, “the Jerries,” to recognize individuals who have exhibited an exemplary community spirit through their accomplishments. Jerrie Mock was the inaugural winner, and other winners are David Brown, founder and creative director of the Harmony Project; Jeni Britton Bauer, founder and president of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams; and Denny Griffith, former president of Columbus College of Art & Design.
On April 17, 2014, a life-size bronze statue of Ms. Mock was unveiled at Port Columbus in honor of the 50th anniversary of her flight. Later this month, Ms. Mock will be inducted into the City of Columbus Hall of Fame.
Ms. Mock is survived by her daughter Valerie Armentrout of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; sister Susan Fredritz Reid of Newark, Ohio; grandson Eddie G. Mock of Quincy, Fla., who cared for her at her home; and many grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two sons, Gary Mock and Roger Mock, and a sister, Barbara Ann Fredritz Sarr.
Ms. Mock requested that no funeral service be held and that her ashes be spread across the Gulf of Mexico.