Margaret Bartholomew

Margaret Bartholomew (8 Oct 1903 – 18 Oct 1943) was the first, and only female, Civil Air Patrol member to die in service during World War II.

Biography
Lt. Margaret Bartholomew was the 154th charter member of the Ohio Wing of Civil Air Patrol, as well as being the Flight Leader of Flight C from Squadron 5111-1. Squadron 5111-1 was the original Cincinnati Squadron, and was based at Lunken Airport. Flight C was an all-female flight, and was composed of 50 aviatrices.

Bartholomew was returning to Cincinnati on Oct. 18, 1943, from a courier mission out of Williamsport, PA, when a sudden snowstorm plunged visibility to zero. She flew lower as she tried to find a safe place to land, but visibility was so poor that she crashed into a hill 55 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, approximately in Indiana, PA.

Burial
Bartholomew is buried at Spring Grove Cemetery (Cincinnati, OH) in Section 124, Lot 170.