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

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

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.