Jacqueline Wonsetler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacqueline Wonsetler
A smiling middle-aged white woman with short dark hair
Jacqueline Wonsetler, from a 1972 publication of the NOAA
Born13 June 1918
Chaves County, New Mexico
Died1 December 1974 (1975-01) (aged 56)
Marion, Oregon
OccupationMeteorologist

Florence Jacqueline Wonsetler (13 June 1918 – 1 December 1974) was an American meteorologist. She worked for the National Weather Service for 29 years.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

Wonsetler was born in Chaves County, New Mexico, the daughter of Joe Bussey Wonsetler and Florence M. Dean Wonsetler. Her father taught at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.[2] She moved to California with her parents as a child, and earned a bachelor's degree in history at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1940, and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.[2] She later studied meteorology through correspondence courses from the Pennsylvania State University,[3][4] She earned a pilot's license in 1946.[2]

Career[edit]

Wonsetler joined the United States Navy WAVES during World War II, working as an aerographer's mate from 1943 to 1945.[2] After the war, she joined the National Weather Service, and held meteorological posts are several locations, most notably at McNary Field in Salem, Oregon[5][6] and in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she was working when she retired in 1972, after 29 years of service.[1] She received the Department of Commerce Outstanding Accomplishment Award "for work in the development of service and briefing methods for transcontinental air races."[7]

Wonsetler was an active member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Ninety-nines,[8] and Citizens for a Better Flagstaff,[9] and served on an advisory commission for the Flagstaff municipal airport.[10] She and her mother owned a mine in Maricopa County, Arizona.[11]

Personal life[edit]

Wonsetler died in 1974, aged 56 years, in Marion, Oregon.[12] Her grave is in Willamette National Cemetery in Oregon.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b NOAA Week (23 June 1972). "F. Jacqueline Wonsetler Retires" (PDF). p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d Yost, Billie (7 August 1964). "Jacque a Rare Weatherman". Arizona Daily Sun. p. 14. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Berkeley, University of California (1936). Register – University of California. University of California Press. p. 19.
  4. ^ "Jacqueline Wonsetler 1918–1974". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 56 (5): 551. 1975. ISSN 0003-0007. JSTOR 26216031.
  5. ^ "Mercury Hops Ten Degrees in Salem Area". Statesman Journal. 2 February 1963. p. 1. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Weather Forecasts are Often Misunderstood, Writer Thinks". Statesman Journal. 6 September 1959. p. 5. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Passport to Knowledge. "World War II and the Broadening of Opportunities". Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  8. ^ Dye, Monie (15 March 1952). "Los Angeles Chapter" (PDF). The Ninety-Nines Newsletter: 7.
  9. ^ Stone, Jeff (17 April 1972). "Forest Hearing Attendance Light". Arizona Daily Sun. p. 1. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Council Names 9 to Airport Panel". Arizona Daily Sun. 23 February 1972. p. 2. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Martha and Son Placer". Western Mining History. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Jacqueline Wonsetler (death notice)". Statesman Journal. 4 December 1974. p. 43. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via Newspapers.com.