WOMENS AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOT
WORLD WAR II
Alma and Joseph are interred together.
Contributor: David McSwain (47156279):
Alma Lucille Fornal, one of the first women allowed to fly a U.S. military aircraft, died on Thursday, Nov. 29, in Highland. She was 98.
Born Alma Newsom on July 23, 1920, in Morgan, Texas, her family moved to Arkansas when she was 8. She attended schools there and went to the University of Arkansas. When she graduated, she went to live in Mississippi where her father retired and lived. There she took up flying as she worked at the registrar’s office.
She earned her pilot’s license to fly and, in 1943 when World War II was going strong, she joined a group called WASP (Woman Air Service Pilots). She served and later received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 2010.
She met her husband, Joe, an Air Force officer, while on duty. They married and had 55 years together. They raised a son John Fornal and a daughter, Jean Hitchman.
Fornal taught elementary school for 16 years in San Bernardino. She enjoyed tennis, golf, dancing and also was an artist painting many pictures of places she and her husband traveled throughout the world.
She is survived by two grandsons, William and Buddy, and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside.
WORLD WAR II
Alma and Joseph are interred together.
Contributor: David McSwain (47156279):
Alma Lucille Fornal, one of the first women allowed to fly a U.S. military aircraft, died on Thursday, Nov. 29, in Highland. She was 98.
Born Alma Newsom on July 23, 1920, in Morgan, Texas, her family moved to Arkansas when she was 8. She attended schools there and went to the University of Arkansas. When she graduated, she went to live in Mississippi where her father retired and lived. There she took up flying as she worked at the registrar’s office.
She earned her pilot’s license to fly and, in 1943 when World War II was going strong, she joined a group called WASP (Woman Air Service Pilots). She served and later received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 2010.
She met her husband, Joe, an Air Force officer, while on duty. They married and had 55 years together. They raised a son John Fornal and a daughter, Jean Hitchman.
Fornal taught elementary school for 16 years in San Bernardino. She enjoyed tennis, golf, dancing and also was an artist painting many pictures of places she and her husband traveled throughout the world.
She is survived by two grandsons, William and Buddy, and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside.
WOMENS AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOT
WORLD WAR II
Alma and Joseph are interred together.
Contributor: David McSwain (47156279):
Alma Lucille Fornal, one of the first women allowed to fly a U.S. military aircraft, died on Thursday, Nov. 29, in Highland. She was 98.
Born Alma Newsom on July 23, 1920, in Morgan, Texas, her family moved to Arkansas when she was 8. She attended schools there and went to the University of Arkansas. When she graduated, she went to live in Mississippi where her father retired and lived. There she took up flying as she worked at the registrar’s office.
She earned her pilot’s license to fly and, in 1943 when World War II was going strong, she joined a group called WASP (Woman Air Service Pilots). She served and later received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 2010.
She met her husband, Joe, an Air Force officer, while on duty. They married and had 55 years together. They raised a son John Fornal and a daughter, Jean Hitchman.
Fornal taught elementary school for 16 years in San Bernardino. She enjoyed tennis, golf, dancing and also was an artist painting many pictures of places she and her husband traveled throughout the world.
She is survived by two grandsons, William and Buddy, and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside.
WORLD WAR II
Alma and Joseph are interred together.
Contributor: David McSwain (47156279):
Alma Lucille Fornal, one of the first women allowed to fly a U.S. military aircraft, died on Thursday, Nov. 29, in Highland. She was 98.
Born Alma Newsom on July 23, 1920, in Morgan, Texas, her family moved to Arkansas when she was 8. She attended schools there and went to the University of Arkansas. When she graduated, she went to live in Mississippi where her father retired and lived. There she took up flying as she worked at the registrar’s office.
She earned her pilot’s license to fly and, in 1943 when World War II was going strong, she joined a group called WASP (Woman Air Service Pilots). She served and later received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 2010.
She met her husband, Joe, an Air Force officer, while on duty. They married and had 55 years together. They raised a son John Fornal and a daughter, Jean Hitchman.
Fornal taught elementary school for 16 years in San Bernardino. She enjoyed tennis, golf, dancing and also was an artist painting many pictures of places she and her husband traveled throughout the world.
She is survived by two grandsons, William and Buddy, and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside.
Gravesite Details
Additional information for this memorial page was contributed by David McSwain.
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