Obituary for Kathryn L. Fine, WAF of WWII
Page available since 6/10/98 - last updated 5/18/2002
Site Visited times since 5/98
| This information was sent to me by Kathryn Fine's daughter, "Hi. My name is Dugie Standeford. My mother was Kathryn Bernheim Fine, one of the original WAFS. My cousin just e-mailed me with your web page, and I located Ma's name. I also met, when I was a kid, several of her colleagues, including Betty Gillies and Nancy Batson." |
| Kathryn L. Fine of Stony Point [NY] died Monday, June 24, 1996, at her home. She was 85. |
| She was born Kathryn L. Strouse on Feb. 1, 1911, in Far Rockaway, NY, and graduated from Woodmere Academy in Woodmere, NY. |
| A longtime flying aficianado, she earned her pilot's license in 1934 at Roosevelt Field on Long Island. |
| She and a friend began a flying instruction school at Roosevelt Field in 1938. |
| In 1942, Mrs. Fine joined the Women's Auxiliary Flying Squadron, which later became the Women's Air Force Service Pilots. She ferried new fighter planes from factories to airbases, and flew planes including P-51 Mustangs, B-17s, Bell Aire and King Cobras, and her favorite, the P-47 Thunderbolt. |
| Mrs. Fine received her honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force in December 1944. She then returned to her former career as a flight instructor. |
| She married C. Robert Fine, a sound recording engineer, in 1947, and continued to fly until her children were born. |
| She is survived by her daughter, Dugie Standeford, of Washington, D.C., and her son, Robert B. Fine, of Harriman. |
| Anyway, there you go. Her flying days were her best days, I think. By the way, the "friend" with whom she taught flying at Roosevelt Field before the war was still alive the last I knew. He was a Navy pilot during the war, and continued to be fly well into his 80s. I haven't talked to him since Ma died--if he's still alive, he's in his 90s. |
| They almost married in the 30s, but she chickened out. But they were friends for over 50 years. |
TWU WASP Archives
WASP on the Web
If you have something you would like to share, please contact me.
Prepared by C. Andy Hailey, K.O.W (Kid Of a WASP)
The WAWG Blog