Dorothy Ebersbach
She grew up in Ohio, but moved to Tampa in the 1930’s to work in a family construction business. While there, she obtained her pilot’s license. Later, she applied for, and was one of only 1,100 women nationwide to be accepted as a member of the elite Women’s Air Force Service Pilots, or “WASPs,” as they were called in World War II.
These brave women served as test pilots, who also helped ferry planes from one strategic location to another, and who frequently towed targets for service men to shoot at during gunnery practice. After the war was over, most of the women found it difficult to find jobs in aviation, so Ms. Ebersbach went back to school and got a degree in nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She worked as a nurse for the Hillsborough County Health Department in Tampa until her retirement in 1975.
In 2010, when Ms. Ebersbach was in her ‘90’s, she and other surviving members of WASP were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest civilian award, for their service in World War II.
Throughout her life, Ms. Ebersbach was devoted to her church. Furthermore, she seemed to practice the Wesleyan adage to “earn all you can, save all you can and give all you can.”
Upon her death, she endowed two scholarships at Hyde Park and donated $100,000 to the Together! Campaign for Kids and Camps, a gift that was matched by a challenge grant given by donors Dan and Trish Bell of Coral Gables. Other beneficiaries include: The United Methodist Higher Education Foundation, Feeding America Tampa Bay and the International Women’s Air & Space Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. In true pioneering spirit, she also established an academic center for flight nursing – the only one of its kind in the United States – at her alma mater, Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
Her legacy will make a difference to future generations for years and years to come.
