Joan Irvine takes to skies once more on 90th birthday

Joan “Mickey” Irvine can’t remember the year she made her first solo flight. Yet at 90, she hasn’t forgotten the feeling.

“When I flew to Reno, I didn’t sleep the night before. I felt very comfortable flying,” the Everett woman said.

It’s been about 70 years since she took flying lessons in Winnemucca, Nev., and made that 166-mile solo flight to Reno. During World War II, her goal was to fly military planes. With a shortage of male pilots, who were needed for combat overseas, the U.S. armed forces launched several programs in the early 1940s to train civilian women to fly military aircraft stateside.

Irvine — her maiden name was Joan Johnson — hoped to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots or its predecessors, the Women’s Flying Training Detachment and the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron.

“That was what I was going to do when I finished flying school. I had visions of flying around the country in a B-17,” said Irvine, a 1940 graduate of Everett High School.

On Saturday, she was back up in a big blue sky.

With her son, Don Irvine, 63, and her 26-year-old granddaughter, Brienne Irvine, she took a sightseeing plane ride from Harvey Field in Snohomish. The hourlong trip over Camano Island, Puget Sound and the Snohomish River valley was a 90th birthday gift from her family. “She didn’t want more things,” Don Irvine said.

Irvine turned 90 on Jan. 19, but the family waited for a perfect day for the flight with Snohomish Flying Service. They also wanted other family members there to celebrate her takeoff and landing.

“I can’t believe it’s finally here,” Irvine said Saturday before boarding the four-seat Cessna 182 piloted by Kyle Artim. “I’m excited and a little nervous,” she added.

Don Irvine, of Lake Stevens, said his mother hadn’t been in a small plane in decades. And her dream of flying military aircraft? It never came true.

“There were no more WASPs,” Joan Irvine said. More than 1,100 women flew with the military program. But at the end of 1944, with the war winding down, the program was discontinued. That left few opportunities for women who had hoped to play a role in military aviation. “She got her pilot’s license, but the program disbanded,” Don Irvine said.

So Irvine never flew for the military, but her flying days weren’t over.

Before being married in the late 1940s, she joined Northwest Airlines as a flight attendant. “She used to fly on a regular route from Seattle to Montana,” Don Irvine said. “There was more turbulence on planes back then, and she remembers other people being sick. It never bothered her,” he said.

A widow, Joan Irvine lived on her own until last year. She now lives in Everett with her daughter, Patty Kumbera. Some of her things are stored away in boxes. Don Irvine hasn’t been able to find her pilot’s license or paperwork from Northwest Airlines. He doesn’t know the exact dates she flew, and she can’t remember.

She does have old photos of the Winnemucca flight school, and of herself in uniform as a flight attendant — then called a stewardess. That career ended when Irvine became a wife and mother.

Irvine has shared with her son her memories of learning to fly. “For her solo flight to get her license, from Winnemucca to Reno and back, she flew a plane that was a little different than the one she trained on,” Don Irvine said. “It wasn’t getting enough altitude. She looked down and hadn’t pushed the stick all the way forward.” Once she did that, she cleared the trees and was up and away, he said.

Don Irvine said his mother had a great time Saturday. “When we landed, everybody was waiting for her at the Buzz Inn. They all gave her a standing ovation. She was properly embarrassed,” he said.

He doesn’t think his mother ever put her pilot’s training to use.

“She gave it up for us. With four kids, she had a lot going on,” Irvine said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Regional search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.