Connellsville woman who flew planes in WWII dies at 95
The first woman to receive a pilot's license at Connellsville Airport and later was one of 1,102 women who served in the Women's Air Force Service Pilots during World War II died Thursday at her Connellsville home.
Florence “Shutsy” Reynolds, 95, said in a 2006 interview that she never let conventional wisdom slow her down.
“Back in the day, they said, ‘Women can't do that,' ” she said. “But I've lived my life believing you can do anything you set your mind to.”
She was 7 when she first told her family that she wanted to be a pilot, Shutsy told the Tribune-Review.
A shortage of male pilots at the start of World War II led 28 experienced civilian women pilots to form the first female squadron in the summer of 1942, according to the National WASP WWII Museum at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas.
They flew new trainer aircraft to the flight schools training the male pilots, towed gunnery targets, transported equipment and personnel and tested aircraft that had been repaired before male pilots were allowed to fly them.
Of the about 25,000 women who applied for the force, only 1,074 successfully completed the training. Reynolds and the other women flew more than 60 million miles during the war, and 38 died during their service.
Despite the vital role they played in the country's war effort, the women received little support from the military. They paid their own way to the training base in Texas and, after the war, paid their own way back home.
Reynolds served for a year and half until the WASP was disbanded on Dec. 20, 1944. She was assigned to the training command in Merced, Calif.
After the war, she worked as a civilian administrative assistant for the Air Force for 16 years.
She met her future husband, Lyle A. Reynolds, while serving in Alaska. They married in 1952 and lived in the Panama Canal Zone for the next 16 years. During that time, she began to blossom as an artist and silversmith, according to her obituary, and the couple learned to work with gemstones. They later opened a jewelry store in her hometown of Connellsville, where they retired.
Shutsy created silver wings and wing jewelry to help share the history of the WASP, as well as airbrushed banners, the WASP WWII flag, medallions and commemorative pins and the WASP scarf, which is still worn by members.
The Pentagon sealed the female pilots' records and denied them veteran's status until 1977. Congress awarded them the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010 at a ceremony that Reynolds and 171 other surviving pilots attended.
Reynolds donated her medal to the Connellsville Area Historical Society.
“Now, it will be my great pleasure. Would the historical society be so kind to keep the gold medal for posterity? Perhaps it will inspire some young woman to break down the door,” Reynolds said during a ceremony in 2011 at the Connellsville Readiness Center.
A spokesman for “Fly Girls,” a TV drama series developed by The Red Door Films, posted a tribute on Facebook:
“Florence ‘Shutsy' Reynolds took her final flight yesterday at her home in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. She had recently celebrated her 95th birthday.
“Shutsy loved our work on ‘FlyGirls,' and was so excited that we were telling the story of the WASP. She was always so involved, and we were in awe of her energy and spunk.”
She was preceded in death by her husband and is survived by nieces and nephews.
Martucci Funeral Home in Connellsville is handling arrangements.
Brian Bowling is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1218, bbowling@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TribBrian.
