[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 10 (Wednesday, February 1, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E61]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PAYING TRIBUTE TO FLORENCE MURPHY, PILOT AND COFOUNDER OF NORTH LAS 
                             VEGAS AIRPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JON C. PORTER

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2006

  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Florence 
Murphy who died Monday January 22, at the age of 94. I recognize 
Florence for her accomplishments in aviation and business, and for 
paving the way for other women as one of Nevada's first female pilots 
and the first woman to be vice president of an airline company.
  Florence Murphy attended the University of Nevada, Reno, for 2 years 
before meeting her husband, John Murphy. He worked for the State 
Highway Department and she was a legal secretary when they first got 
the chance to fly in 1936. Two years later they each had their pilot's 
licenses. Murphy earned her flight instructor's license in 1941, and 3 
years later she became the first woman in Nevada to earn a commercial 
pilot's license.
  She was not always welcomed in the male-dominated field of commercial 
aviation, especially when she took the controls of an airliner. At 
times, she had to board the plane before the passengers so they could 
not see that a woman was flying the plane.
  In 1941, Florence Murphy, her husband and their friend Bob Barrett 
built Sky Haven Airport, which is now North Las Vegas Airport. The 
airport opened on December 7, 1941. The festivities came to an abrupt 
end when an unscheduled military plane landed and shut down the airport 
with the announcement that Pearl Harbor had just been bombed. 
Florence's husband and Barrett then went to Arizona as civilian flight 
instructors. Florence stayed behind to keep the Sky Haven running 
during World War II.
  After the war, Florence met Ed Converse, a Navy veteran who had 
started Bonanza Airlines. She joined the company and eventually became 
vice president, the first woman to hold such a position with an 
airline. She stayed with the company until 1958, when she started a 
real estate company with another friend, Larry McNeil. She remained 
active as a licensed pilot until the age of 82 and as a real estate 
executive until 93.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I have the opportunity to 
honor the memory of Florence Murphy, and her achievements, in front of 
my colleagues of the house.

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