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2003 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 331
Celebrating the life of Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt.

Agreed to by the Senate, January 16, 2003
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 24, 2003

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt, Virginia's most prominent woman aviator, died on May 22, 2002; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt of Roanoke, formerly of Fincastle, graduated from Jefferson High School and the Gunston Hall School in Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt managed the successful 1936 re-election campaign of her father, Clifton A. Woodrum, Sr.; and

WHEREAS, at the age of 26, Martha Anne Zillhardt became the first Virginia woman to obtain an instrument rating pilot's license; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt established the Woodrum Flying Service, a successful flying school and charter service of five instructors and 14 airplanes; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt produced the first All State Air Show with the Roanoke Jaycees in 1949; and

WHEREAS, flying a top-line Beechcraft Bonanza, Martha Anne Zillhardt won the fourth annual transcontinental air race for women in 1950, finishing first in her division; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt was an active member of the Junior League of Roanoke, the Roanoke Assembly, and the Roanoke Woman's Democratic Club; and

WHEREAS, an industrious entrepreneur, Martha Anne Zillhardt created a lucrative business selling refurbished airplanes; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt became the first woman president of the Virginia Aviation Trade Council; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt, greatly admired and respected as a woman pioneer in Virginia aviation, was inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame in 1985 for her remarkable achievements; and

WHEREAS, Martha Anne Zillhardt, who fervently embraced life and loved the freedom and exhilaration of flying, will be lovingly remembered and sorely missed by her family, friends, numerous students, and fellow aviators; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the passing of an outstanding Virginian, Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt as an expression of the esteem in which her memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.