Tiny Broadwick: First Lady of Parachuting

Various links

2/2007

Retirement

In 1922, after more than 1,000 jumps, she retired, somewhat reluctantly. As she said, “I breathe so much better up there when I jump, and I’m getting so I don’t like to breathe on earth.” After retiring, she worked as an elderly companion and housekeeper for awhile. Glenn Martin became a renowned military airplane manufacturer.

During World War II, Tiny found work producing airplane parts. This helped her stay in touch with Martin, with whom she shared happy memories. She also demonstrated parachuting for U.S. Army paratroopers. “I’d always take one of my chutes along and compare it with the ones they were using. The boys would tell me they would never jump in anything like that! But I’d tell them it must have been OK, I’m still here!”

Visiting the 82nd Airborne Group in Ft. Bragg, she was asked if she ever had a reserve chute. “Yes, home in the garage in case I tore the one I was wearing!” she replied.

Sharing her experiences helped refine parachutes and increase aviation safety for thousands. Tiny received several aviation honors, including the John Glenn Medal in 1964. In 1976, she was inducted in the OX5 Hall of Fame, along with the Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh. Tiny went on sailplane and blimp rides and appeared on TV shows such as “I’ve Got A Secret.” Her friend Maxine Hicks said everyone loved her. “She had friends everywhere!”

Tiny regretted leaving Verla but was pleased about how she was raised. “I’ve talked to God many times about the care my mother took of my daughter. She’s a lovely woman, she’s got a lovely family and I thank God for that!”

In 1974, Tiny was thrilled when her granddaughter, Bonnie Young, made her first parachute jump in Franklin County. Tiny had to laugh when Bonnie landed in a tree.

Tiny died at age 85 in California in 1978. In 2005, she was inducted into the portrait galley at the Wright Brothers National Memorial visitor center in Kill Devil Hills. She is buried in Sunset Gardens in Henderson, where a marker notes her achievement as “First Lady of Parachuting.”

—Karen Olson House

From “Tiny Broadwick The First Lady of Parachuting” by Elizabeth Whitley Roberson © used by permission of the publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.