"Still I Rise"

Artist:  Sarah Scheffer   

Sponsor:  Kara (Yoest) Scheffer

Dedicated to:   Dedicated to all of the pilots, women and men, and their families, who pioneered aviation at the Sullivan Municipal airport 

Vera Lou (Ohlendorf) Yoest, born in Booneville, Mo. February 16, 1929 became the first woman to “solo” at the Sullivan, Missouri municipal airport on October 22, 1961, in a Cessna 150. She was also “believed” to be the first woman in Franklin county, Missouri, to have accomplished this feat. The airport was actually located in Crawford county, Mo. but Vera was a resident of Franklin county. 

Vera’s husband William J.(Bill) Yoest, was also an aviator. Her inspiration to learn to fly was to be able to pilot the plane and get it on the ground if, for some reason Bill could not. Vera died on June 20, 2014, at her home in Sullivan. She was 85.

Vera Lou Yoest is listed on the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Wall of Honor. 

The Sullivan Municipal Airport closed in 1991 when the new Sullivan Regional Airport was constructed and dedicated. That property is now the Sullivan City Fairgrounds.