Mary E. "Mother" Tusch (1874/1875–1960) was a woman known as the "Mother of Aviators" due to her hosting hundreds of future pilots at her bungalow in Berkeley, California.
Tusch resided in a cottage across the street from the United States School of Military Aeronautics at the University of California, Berkeley that was dubbed "The Hangar," the "Chapel of Aviation," and the "Shrine of the Air." She welcomed cadets from the school into her home, offering them hospitality and refreshments, and served as a mother figure to them, resulting in them referring to her as "Mother." She was known for bidding farewell to the students who visited her, whom she referred to as her "boys," by telling them, "God bless you."
Tusch maintained a register of visitors to her home, as well as a birthday book on which she recorded the birthdays of visitors. Visitors would also sign her wallpaper, including signatures from Charles Lindbergh and Eddie Rickenbacker.
The students who visited her would go on to flight school and then to the various theatres of World War I and World War II, and would send her back aeronautical memorabilia, which collected in her cottage. Some examples of objects in her collection include what was claimed to be a piece of the wreckage of the Hindenburg, a propeller from the first flight between San Francisco and Oakland, a cloth cap worn by Richard E. Byrd, a protective helmet worn by Henry H. Arnold, a gasoline cap, fabric, a spare hose, and a drain plug. She also maintained correspondence with many of these former cadets.
Her collection also includes both formal and informal photographs and images signed by famous aviators, including Ruth Law and Earle Ovington.
In 1947, when a plan to expand the University of California's campus threatened to raze her house, former cadets campaigned to preserve it.
In 1950 her health deteriorated and she moved to Washington, DC to live with her daughter, Irene. Irene's husband Paul Garber was the curator of the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, the precursor to the National Air and Space Museum.
When she died, she donated her entire collection of memorabilia, including autographed wallpaper from her home, to the museum. Parts of the collection were put on display shortly after her death.
Mother Tusch was an honorary member of the Women Flyers of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Aeronautic Association, the Exchange Club, and the National League of American Penwomen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_E._Tusch
===
Published in the Oakland Tribune, Saturday, September 2, 1961:
"Plaque to Honor Favorite of Fliers
The words on the simple bronze plaque in the Urn Garden of Sunset View Cemetery will read: 'Mother Tusch -- Mother of Aviators -- God Bless You!'
'God bless you' was the way Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Tusch always said goodbye to her 'boys' whenever they left her shingled bungalow at 2211 Union St., Berkeley.
Mrs. Tusch's 'boys' were thousands of airmen who called the Union Street address 'The Hangar' and made it their home away from home.
For 33 years, the great and lowly of aviation filed in and out of the Berkeley bungalow to pay their respects to the woman they called 'Mother Tusch.'
In return for her kindness and hospitality, they sent her mementos of air victory and historic flights. They returned from the war to visit their adopted mother and leave their autographs on the walls and ceilings of the little house.
When Mrs. Tusch was forced by illness to move to Washington, D.C., and live with her daughter in 1950, the little house was stripped of its mementoes, right done to the autographed wallpaper.
Everything was shipped to the National Air Museum in Washington, D.C., where Mrs. Tusch's son-in-law, Paul E. Garber, is curator.
Mrs. Tusch died in Washington, D.C., last year, but her daughter has brought her ashes home to Berkeley to place them next to those of her husband, engineer Cary Allen Tusch, who died in 1928.
'There won't be any ceremony when the plaque is installed,' Mrs. Garber said. 'I have to go back to Washington and it won't be finished before I leave.'
'It will be a simple plaque, but I thought it would be fitting to put that kind of an inscription on it, because mother was always saying 'God Bless You' to people.'"
Tusch resided in a cottage across the street from the United States School of Military Aeronautics at the University of California, Berkeley that was dubbed "The Hangar," the "Chapel of Aviation," and the "Shrine of the Air." She welcomed cadets from the school into her home, offering them hospitality and refreshments, and served as a mother figure to them, resulting in them referring to her as "Mother." She was known for bidding farewell to the students who visited her, whom she referred to as her "boys," by telling them, "God bless you."
Tusch maintained a register of visitors to her home, as well as a birthday book on which she recorded the birthdays of visitors. Visitors would also sign her wallpaper, including signatures from Charles Lindbergh and Eddie Rickenbacker.
The students who visited her would go on to flight school and then to the various theatres of World War I and World War II, and would send her back aeronautical memorabilia, which collected in her cottage. Some examples of objects in her collection include what was claimed to be a piece of the wreckage of the Hindenburg, a propeller from the first flight between San Francisco and Oakland, a cloth cap worn by Richard E. Byrd, a protective helmet worn by Henry H. Arnold, a gasoline cap, fabric, a spare hose, and a drain plug. She also maintained correspondence with many of these former cadets.
Her collection also includes both formal and informal photographs and images signed by famous aviators, including Ruth Law and Earle Ovington.
In 1947, when a plan to expand the University of California's campus threatened to raze her house, former cadets campaigned to preserve it.
In 1950 her health deteriorated and she moved to Washington, DC to live with her daughter, Irene. Irene's husband Paul Garber was the curator of the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, the precursor to the National Air and Space Museum.
When she died, she donated her entire collection of memorabilia, including autographed wallpaper from her home, to the museum. Parts of the collection were put on display shortly after her death.
Mother Tusch was an honorary member of the Women Flyers of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Aeronautic Association, the Exchange Club, and the National League of American Penwomen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_E._Tusch
===
Published in the Oakland Tribune, Saturday, September 2, 1961:
"Plaque to Honor Favorite of Fliers
The words on the simple bronze plaque in the Urn Garden of Sunset View Cemetery will read: 'Mother Tusch -- Mother of Aviators -- God Bless You!'
'God bless you' was the way Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Tusch always said goodbye to her 'boys' whenever they left her shingled bungalow at 2211 Union St., Berkeley.
Mrs. Tusch's 'boys' were thousands of airmen who called the Union Street address 'The Hangar' and made it their home away from home.
For 33 years, the great and lowly of aviation filed in and out of the Berkeley bungalow to pay their respects to the woman they called 'Mother Tusch.'
In return for her kindness and hospitality, they sent her mementos of air victory and historic flights. They returned from the war to visit their adopted mother and leave their autographs on the walls and ceilings of the little house.
When Mrs. Tusch was forced by illness to move to Washington, D.C., and live with her daughter in 1950, the little house was stripped of its mementoes, right done to the autographed wallpaper.
Everything was shipped to the National Air Museum in Washington, D.C., where Mrs. Tusch's son-in-law, Paul E. Garber, is curator.
Mrs. Tusch died in Washington, D.C., last year, but her daughter has brought her ashes home to Berkeley to place them next to those of her husband, engineer Cary Allen Tusch, who died in 1928.
'There won't be any ceremony when the plaque is installed,' Mrs. Garber said. 'I have to go back to Washington and it won't be finished before I leave.'
'It will be a simple plaque, but I thought it would be fitting to put that kind of an inscription on it, because mother was always saying 'God Bless You' to people.'"
Mary E. "Mother" Tusch (1874/1875–1960) was a woman known as the "Mother of Aviators" due to her hosting hundreds of future pilots at her bungalow in Berkeley, California.
Tusch resided in a cottage across the street from the United States School of Military Aeronautics at the University of California, Berkeley that was dubbed "The Hangar," the "Chapel of Aviation," and the "Shrine of the Air." She welcomed cadets from the school into her home, offering them hospitality and refreshments, and served as a mother figure to them, resulting in them referring to her as "Mother." She was known for bidding farewell to the students who visited her, whom she referred to as her "boys," by telling them, "God bless you."
Tusch maintained a register of visitors to her home, as well as a birthday book on which she recorded the birthdays of visitors. Visitors would also sign her wallpaper, including signatures from Charles Lindbergh and Eddie Rickenbacker.
The students who visited her would go on to flight school and then to the various theatres of World War I and World War II, and would send her back aeronautical memorabilia, which collected in her cottage. Some examples of objects in her collection include what was claimed to be a piece of the wreckage of the Hindenburg, a propeller from the first flight between San Francisco and Oakland, a cloth cap worn by Richard E. Byrd, a protective helmet worn by Henry H. Arnold, a gasoline cap, fabric, a spare hose, and a drain plug. She also maintained correspondence with many of these former cadets.
Her collection also includes both formal and informal photographs and images signed by famous aviators, including Ruth Law and Earle Ovington.
In 1947, when a plan to expand the University of California's campus threatened to raze her house, former cadets campaigned to preserve it.
In 1950 her health deteriorated and she moved to Washington, DC to live with her daughter, Irene. Irene's husband Paul Garber was the curator of the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, the precursor to the National Air and Space Museum.
When she died, she donated her entire collection of memorabilia, including autographed wallpaper from her home, to the museum. Parts of the collection were put on display shortly after her death.
Mother Tusch was an honorary member of the Women Flyers of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Aeronautic Association, the Exchange Club, and the National League of American Penwomen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_E._Tusch
===
Published in the Oakland Tribune, Saturday, September 2, 1961:
"Plaque to Honor Favorite of Fliers
The words on the simple bronze plaque in the Urn Garden of Sunset View Cemetery will read: 'Mother Tusch -- Mother of Aviators -- God Bless You!'
'God bless you' was the way Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Tusch always said goodbye to her 'boys' whenever they left her shingled bungalow at 2211 Union St., Berkeley.
Mrs. Tusch's 'boys' were thousands of airmen who called the Union Street address 'The Hangar' and made it their home away from home.
For 33 years, the great and lowly of aviation filed in and out of the Berkeley bungalow to pay their respects to the woman they called 'Mother Tusch.'
In return for her kindness and hospitality, they sent her mementos of air victory and historic flights. They returned from the war to visit their adopted mother and leave their autographs on the walls and ceilings of the little house.
When Mrs. Tusch was forced by illness to move to Washington, D.C., and live with her daughter in 1950, the little house was stripped of its mementoes, right done to the autographed wallpaper.
Everything was shipped to the National Air Museum in Washington, D.C., where Mrs. Tusch's son-in-law, Paul E. Garber, is curator.
Mrs. Tusch died in Washington, D.C., last year, but her daughter has brought her ashes home to Berkeley to place them next to those of her husband, engineer Cary Allen Tusch, who died in 1928.
'There won't be any ceremony when the plaque is installed,' Mrs. Garber said. 'I have to go back to Washington and it won't be finished before I leave.'
'It will be a simple plaque, but I thought it would be fitting to put that kind of an inscription on it, because mother was always saying 'God Bless You' to people.'"
Tusch resided in a cottage across the street from the United States School of Military Aeronautics at the University of California, Berkeley that was dubbed "The Hangar," the "Chapel of Aviation," and the "Shrine of the Air." She welcomed cadets from the school into her home, offering them hospitality and refreshments, and served as a mother figure to them, resulting in them referring to her as "Mother." She was known for bidding farewell to the students who visited her, whom she referred to as her "boys," by telling them, "God bless you."
Tusch maintained a register of visitors to her home, as well as a birthday book on which she recorded the birthdays of visitors. Visitors would also sign her wallpaper, including signatures from Charles Lindbergh and Eddie Rickenbacker.
The students who visited her would go on to flight school and then to the various theatres of World War I and World War II, and would send her back aeronautical memorabilia, which collected in her cottage. Some examples of objects in her collection include what was claimed to be a piece of the wreckage of the Hindenburg, a propeller from the first flight between San Francisco and Oakland, a cloth cap worn by Richard E. Byrd, a protective helmet worn by Henry H. Arnold, a gasoline cap, fabric, a spare hose, and a drain plug. She also maintained correspondence with many of these former cadets.
Her collection also includes both formal and informal photographs and images signed by famous aviators, including Ruth Law and Earle Ovington.
In 1947, when a plan to expand the University of California's campus threatened to raze her house, former cadets campaigned to preserve it.
In 1950 her health deteriorated and she moved to Washington, DC to live with her daughter, Irene. Irene's husband Paul Garber was the curator of the Smithsonian's National Air Museum, the precursor to the National Air and Space Museum.
When she died, she donated her entire collection of memorabilia, including autographed wallpaper from her home, to the museum. Parts of the collection were put on display shortly after her death.
Mother Tusch was an honorary member of the Women Flyers of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the National Aeronautic Association, the Exchange Club, and the National League of American Penwomen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_E._Tusch
===
Published in the Oakland Tribune, Saturday, September 2, 1961:
"Plaque to Honor Favorite of Fliers
The words on the simple bronze plaque in the Urn Garden of Sunset View Cemetery will read: 'Mother Tusch -- Mother of Aviators -- God Bless You!'
'God bless you' was the way Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Tusch always said goodbye to her 'boys' whenever they left her shingled bungalow at 2211 Union St., Berkeley.
Mrs. Tusch's 'boys' were thousands of airmen who called the Union Street address 'The Hangar' and made it their home away from home.
For 33 years, the great and lowly of aviation filed in and out of the Berkeley bungalow to pay their respects to the woman they called 'Mother Tusch.'
In return for her kindness and hospitality, they sent her mementos of air victory and historic flights. They returned from the war to visit their adopted mother and leave their autographs on the walls and ceilings of the little house.
When Mrs. Tusch was forced by illness to move to Washington, D.C., and live with her daughter in 1950, the little house was stripped of its mementoes, right done to the autographed wallpaper.
Everything was shipped to the National Air Museum in Washington, D.C., where Mrs. Tusch's son-in-law, Paul E. Garber, is curator.
Mrs. Tusch died in Washington, D.C., last year, but her daughter has brought her ashes home to Berkeley to place them next to those of her husband, engineer Cary Allen Tusch, who died in 1928.
'There won't be any ceremony when the plaque is installed,' Mrs. Garber said. 'I have to go back to Washington and it won't be finished before I leave.'
'It will be a simple plaque, but I thought it would be fitting to put that kind of an inscription on it, because mother was always saying 'God Bless You' to people.'"
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