Suzanne Garvin Williams landed twice at Tucson, under two different last names. Her first visit, as Suzanne Garvin, was on Monday, November 16, 1931. She was solo in the Inland NC12838 (I found no information on the airplane; no Golden Age Inland was so numbered). Based at San Diego, CA, she arrived at Tucson eastbound from Yuma, AZ at 12:15PM. She did not cite a departure date or a destination.

Show Dogs, Oakland Tribune, May 19, 1930 (Source: newspapers.com)

Suzanne Garvin Dallas News Article, November 13, 1931 (Source: Woodling)

The article at left from the Oakland Tribune, May 19, 1930, describes her hobby, raising and showing French bulldogs. One of these dogs was her co-pilot (see below).

The news article at right ties in nicely with her landing at Tucson. She was on her way east to Dallas to visit her daughter (probably step-daughter, Josephine, see below).

Considering that she landed at Tucson Monday, she was at least a day late for her expected arrival in Dallas. Note that the article identifies her as a low time pilot. Her Detroit to San Diego flight was further described in an Oakland Tribune article, further below.

The article below, dated December 6, 1931, is unclear as to location. It does corroborate her idiosyncracy of flying with her bulldog, Champion Souvenir Vivant. If my calculations, below, of her birth year are correct, then she is about 42 years old in this news photo.

Suzanne Garvin Unsourced News Article, December 6, 1931 (Source: Woodling)

Her second landing at Tucson was on Thursday, June 21, 1934 at 10:14AM. Based at San Diego, she was eastbound from Yuma, AZ to El Paso, TX. She was solo in Inland NC259N. She identified herself this day as Suzanne Williams.

J.F. Garvin (L), Marthasville Record (MO), January 25, 1935 (Source: newspapers.com)

She was born Suzanne Frances Jackels in Denver, CO in 1889. Her parents were Charles F. and Mathilda H. ("Mattie") Jackels. The 1900 U.S. Census placed them living in Kansas City, MO. She had a one-year older sister, Marguerite. Both sisters attended Mary Baldwin College in Virginia.

Suzanne married Joseph F. Garvin (b. October 6, 1875) of Dallas, TX  on July 20, 1914, in Kansas City. Mr. Garvin is pictured in the left-hand vignette in a photograph at right that appeared in the Marthasville Record (MO), January 25, 1935. The article announced his promotion to vice president at the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad (M-K-T). Garvin was a widower and was 14 years older than Suzanne. He had two children at the time, one of whom was Joseph Hawley Garvin, a graduate of the US Naval Academy (USNA) in 1924.

Suzanne and Joseph's application for their marriage license is exhibited below, courtesy of ancestry.com. The application states she was "over 18." She was actually ca. 23.

Jackels/Garvin Marriage License Application, July 20, 1914 (Source: ancestry.com)

The 1920 U.S. Census documented Suzanne (age 36) and Garvin (41, sic) living in Dallas, TX with Hawley (18), and Garvin's daughter Josephine (15). His occupation was coded as "Freight Mgr." for a "Railroad." Her occupation was coded as "None."

J.H. Garvin, USNA, 1924 (Source: Woodling)

Dallas Morning News, April 29, 1930 (Source: Woodling)

Her husband was an officer of the M-K-T railroad (the "Katy") and split his time between St. Louis and Dallas.

Apparently the younger Garvin, pictured, left, from his USNA yearbook, was responsible for Suzanne's interest in flying as indicated in the last paragraph of the article at right from the Dallas Morning News of April 29, 1930. Note the discrepancy in the elder Garvin's middle initial in this article.

At some point, she and Garvin were divorced. Interestingly, the 1930 Census coded Garvin as widowed and living alone in the Daniel Boone Apartments in St. Louis, MO.

He didn't pass away, because he remarried in February 1935. According to the Oakland Tribune, February 15, 1935, his bride was Alice Butterfield, and they honeymooned on the west coast. He was also documented in the Social Security system in 1937.

An article from the Galveston Daily News (TX), August 24, 1930, described a flight she made to Galveston, below. It describes her impetus for flying, glider experience, and mentions Register pilot Charles Lindbergh and his wife. CONTACT! was a common banner headline for aviation activities across the country during the Golden Age.

Galveston Daily News (TX), August 24, 1930 (Source: newspapers.com)

Another cross-country flight from Detroit, MI to California was described in the Oakland Tribune, April 5, 1931, below. She encountered foul weather during her trip. The article alludes to her representation and sales of Inland airplanes on the west coast.

Oakland Tribune, April 5, 1931 (Source: newspapers.com)

Suzanne married Richard H. Williams (date unknown, but probably sometime between her first and second visit at Tucson). Williams was a commercial pilot and flight instructor and after they married they operated the Chula Vista Airport near San Diego for a number of years.   She learned to fly in Dallas, TX (and/or San Diego?) in 1930 (article, right). She held Private Pilot License certificate #12,838. 

Site visitor John Underwood supplies the following, "Her airplane number is not discernable [in the Register], but most likely it was NC259N.   She and Richard also had another Inland, an S-300, NC254N.    I don’t know for certain the status of their marriage, but they both had a Lakeside, CA address as of January, 1940, although Richard also had a San Francisco address and operated a Waco ZPF-7 and a Beech B17R during the 1940-41 period.   The only pictures of Inlands with D-M connections in my files are NC509Y taken here at Glendale and one of NC8088 taken at Roosevelt Field during its early days as a demonstrator." NC8008 is still registered with the FAA.

Richard H. Williams, Age 17 (Source: ancestry.com)

From ancestry.com, an immigration form dated November 5, 1933 documented her flying from Agua Caliente, Mexico to San Diego with Richard (b. 9/18/1905 according to a 1923 U.S. passport application found at ancestry.com: d. 4/13/92?). Richard is pictured, age 17, at right from that application. His intended travel was to Bombay, India, today's Mumbai. I don't know if he traveled to India, but a ship's manifest for the S.S. Mauritania listed him as a passenger arriving in New York from Southampton, England on July 10, 1925.

Richard was a pilot, too, so it is not possible to know who was the pilot in command from Mexico. You will notice a discrepancy in the age information provided for Richard in the immigration form below. If he was 31 as stated on this 1933 form, his birth date would have been 1902. His age should have been entered as about 28 in accordance with his birthdate written on his passport application.

Regardless, they were flying in NC259N, the Inland Suzanne logged through Tucson in 1934. Their address, 4030 Sunset Road, San Diego, is today a two-storey stucco home on a corner lot at the entrance to a private road. It appears as if it could have been built ca. 1920s.

Suzanne & Richard Williams, Immigration Form, November 5, 1933 (Source: ancestry.com)

An identical Immigration form was dated two+ years earlier, below, on February 11, 1931, when Richard traveled to and from Mexico with another man named Marshall Cassidy. Their airplane was the Inland flown later by him and Suzanne. Cassidy (1892-1968) was likely the Executive Secretary of the Jockey Club and the son of Marshall "Mars" Cassidy (19963-1929), the starter for the New York Jockey Club up until his passing. Williams' age is entered correctly on this form.

Richard Williams, Immigration Form, February 11, 1931 (Source: ancestry.com)

Agua Caliente was a favorite destination for thirsty U.S. citizens during Prohibition. Suzanne and Richard appeared to favor the party opportunities. At least four other similar immigration forms documented the Williams' travel from Agua Caliente back to the U.S. They were all dated on weekends during 1931. Prohibition was ended in December 1933.

Curiously, the 1930 U.S. Census listed Richard, age 24, living with his widowed mother, four sisters and two brothers in Ducor, CA in the Central Valley north of Bakersfield. His occupation was coded as "Aviator," and his first marriage date was coded as 22 years old. Apparently Williams had been married ca. 1928, before he met and married Suzanne.

Mr. Underwood adds, "Don’t know much about Suzanne, but she damaged one of her Inlands at the Kern County air show in 1931.   Made a hard landing that damaged a wheel causing the Inland to flip on its back.    She participated in an air show bombing contest at Taft, CA in 7/33 which caused some concern when her 'bomb' got hung up in a wing strut.    She must have been active in the 99s, but I don’t have any information on that [a search at www.ninety-nines.org yields nothing].    Suzanne performed at other airshows, but had not progressed beyond the PPL [Private Pilot License] stage as of 1/40."

Suzanne Garvin Williams Obituary, 1981 (Source: Woodling)

However, a March 1932 Ninety-Nines organization newsletter reports, “Suzanne Garvin, formerly of Dallas, is now living in San Diego [probably with Richard].  Sue has the agency for the Inland Sport [managed with her husband], and has made several trips back east recently [she was on one of those trips during her first visit at Tucson in November 1931].  She spent a couple of weeks in Dallas at Christmas time.  On all her trips 'Bugsby,' [AKA "Champion Souvenir Vivant"] a prize French bulldog, always accompanies her.  Bugsby has her own helmet and goggles and sweater, and a tiny little safety belt that fastens on to her harness.”

Suzanne Garvin Williams signed no other Registers. Although she was a member of Ninety-Nines, I found no record that she was ever an officer of the organization, or, other than the Kern County show in 1931, that she participated in air races and other local and national events frequented by many Ninety-Nines. She flew West July 14, 1981 at age 92. Her obituary appeared in the San Diego Union, right, exact date unknown.

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 04/17/11 REVISED: 04/14/12, 09/03/13, 01/20/18