Eileen (Fitzpatrick) Lebow ’47, M.A. ’49

Eileen (Fitzpatrick) Lebow ’47, M.A. ’49, who taught in the Baltimore and Montgomery County, Maryland, schools for 20 years before becoming an author of books on early aviation and education, died at her home in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 2. She was 96.

Eileen Fitzpatrick was born in the Panama Canal Zone on May 30, 1925. During her student days, she was a member of the Alpha Omicron Phi sorority.

Her first book, "Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz," an account of the first flight across the country in 1911, was published by the Smithsonian Press and received excellent reviews. The New York Times wrote, "Lebow's account is a wonderful window on America before the communication era." The Western Flyer wrote that it "is a lively account of the first transcontinental flight…The book is fun as well as educational."

She next turned to the first published book on the Army Balloon Corps in World War I, entitled "A Grandstand Seat," for which she was able to interview three survivors of that Corps. Air Power History wrote, "What we get is a highly readable account of how the US Army mobilized an impressive force of captive observation balloons."

Before returning to writing about early aviation, Lebow wrote about a special school in New York, of which the Book News wrote, "A 30-year veteran of Maryland public schools relates a story of education politics shaping an institution that had a sizable impact from 1857-1942."

Lebow thought that her next book would be about five or six women who flew as "early birds." As she researched the field, she began discovering more and more of these women from France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, England and the United States. When she was finished, she had identified 63 women who flew before the end of 1916, which qualified them as "early birds." Hers is still the most complete list of these women. The Indianapolis Star wrote, "Before Amelia" is a terrific read, not only for its history of early aviation but for the riveting stories of indomitable women."

Lebow is survived by her husband of 70 years, Morton, M.A. '49, and her three children: Ellen Gaskill of Washington and Ocracoke, North Carolina, Edward of Tempe, Arizona, and Sarah Tolson of Williamsburg, Virginia, as well as five grandchildren and one great-grandson.