Date :
Location :
June 11, 1920 - November 4, 2010
Elaine Mohney was born in Auburn, Iowa, the eldest child of William and Leafy Ellerbrock. After graduating from the Yetter, Iowa, High School as Miss Yetter of 1938, she enrolled at the University of Iowa in nursing. She suspended her studies to become a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines in the mid-1940s. Based in Kansas City and San Francisco, Elaine flew one million miles for TWA, coast-to-coast, on DC-3s and Lockheed Constellations. It was a glamorous age in aviation: she met movie stars and celebrities on her flights, including TWA's eccentric owner, Howard Hughes, who once commandeered Elaine's airplane from the scheduled pilot to fly it himself - barefoot.
Elaine returned to the University of Iowa and in 1950 completed her degree, and married Dr. Glenn Mohney. She taught elementary school in Iowa City for two years, then moved to Fort Gordon, Georgia, where Glenn served in the Army while she had two sons. In 1955 the family relocated to Port Huron, Michigan. Elaine volunteered in the local schools and at the Port Huron Eye Clinic; she also learned to snow ski and golf. In the mid-1980s, they moved to Venice, Florida. Elaine volunteered for a number of local women's groups and the Venice Chamber of Commerce; she loved her work and colleagues in Venice.
She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Glenn; two sons, David (former Dean of the University of Kentucky College of Architecture). and Mark (an ophthalmologist in Atlanta); their wives, and four grandchildren.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the P.E.O. Star Scholarship Program (P.E.O. International Headquarters, 3700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312).
[Port Huron, MI] Times Herald - Nov 14, 2010
