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Notable people · Aviation

Jerrie Mock

Newark-born pilot who became the first woman to fly solo around the world, in a Cessna 180 named Spirit of Columbus, 19 March to 17 April 1964. She died in Quincy, Florida.

Jerrie Mock
Unknown authorUnknown author (UPI), Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
1925-11-22
Died
2014-09-30
Education
Newark High School, Newark, OH, to 1943
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, attended
Known as
Aviation
Organizations
Cessna

Life story

Jerrie Mock was born in Newark, Ohio, in 1925. At age seven she took a Ford Trimotor flight with her father. She graduated from Newark High School in 1943, attended Ohio State, and married Russell Mock in 1945.

On March 19, 1964, she took off from Columbus in a Cessna 180 she named Spirit of Columbus. She landed back there on April 17 after 29 days and about 22,860 miles. She was the first woman to fly solo around the world.

President Lyndon Johnson gave her the FAA Gold Medal on May 4, 1964. She wrote a memoir, Three-Eight Charlie, in 1970, and died in Quincy, Florida, in 2014. Her plane hangs in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

Timeline

  • 1925-11-22: Born (Newark, OH) source
  • 1943: Graduates Newark High School (Newark, OH) source
  • 1945: Marries Russell Mock (US) source
  • 1964-03-19: Departs on solo round-the-world flight (Columbus, OH) source
  • 1964-04-17: Completes the flight (Columbus, OH) source
  • 1964-05-04: Receives FAA Gold Medal (Washington, DC) source
  • 1970: Publishes Three-Eight Charlie (US) source
  • 1979: Inducted into Ohio Women's Hall of Fame (Columbus, OH) source
  • 2013-09-14: Newark holds Jerrie Mock Day; statue unveiled at The Works (Newark, OH) source
  • 2014-09-30: Dies (Quincy, FL) source
  • 2022: Inducted into National Aviation Hall of Fame (Dayton, OH) source

What Jerrie is known for

  • First woman to fly solo around the world, 19 Mar-17 Apr 1964 (29 days, about 22,860 miles, 21 stopovers)
  • Her Cessna 180 (N1538C) is preserved at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
  • Solo circumnavigation in Cessna 180 N1538C, 1964
  • Three-Eight Charlie (1970)

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Honors and things named for them

  • FAA Gold Medal, 1964
  • Ohio Women's Hall of Fame, 1979
  • National Aviation Hall of Fame, 2022
  • Statue at The Works, Newark, OH

Family

  • husband: Russell Mock
  • child: Valerie Armentrout
  • child: Gary Mock
  • child: Roger Mock

Places in Ohio to see

  • The Works, Ohio Center for History, Art and Technology (Jerrie Mock statue) (statue)
    55 S 1st St, Newark, Licking County ZIP 43055 · Newark · Licking County

Ohio places

Where Jerrie Mock was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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