MADISON, WIS. – Pilot and professor, Dr. Dorothy (DJ) Douglas, 82, died February 10, 2010. Beginning at age 15, Douglas entered the Civilian Pilot Training Program during WWII, where she taught Army Air Corps cadets in Stearman and AT6 aircraft. Because of her expertise in emergency care, she was commissioned as a Lt. in the Navy Nurse Corp, sent to Vietnam and flew as a medical crew chief on Army rescue helicopters. Eventually, she became a multi-engine and instrument flight instructor, safety counselor for the FAA, and Commander of the Wisconsin Wing-Madison Senior Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, and flew many search and rescue missions.
Among her numerous awards was the “U.S. Air Force Life Saving Award” for in-flight directions to a non-pilot in an emergency situation over Peoria, Illinois. Douglas, a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was the eighth woman Judo black belt in the U.S. She also raced track bicycles in the 1940s and ’50s, climbed Mt. Ranier, and loved sailing. She is survived by her partner of 40 years, Rory Ward.
