Patricia Kenworthy Nuckols

Patricia Kenworthy Nuckols (born June 21, 1921[1]) is an American former field hockey player and a pilot in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Prior to her marriage in 1948, she was known by her maiden name, Patricia Kenworthy.

Patricia Kenworthy Nuckols
Nuckols as a WASP pilot
Personal information
Born (1921-06-21) June 21, 1921

WASP service

Kenworthy enlisted in the WASP program during World War II despite falling short of the requirement that pilots have a height of five feet two inches (1.57 m). She managed to pass muster by "standing up exceedingly straight and generally brazening it out."[2] She claimed to be five feet two-and-a-half inches and, training in the back seat of a Steerman, she used three pillows to see over the training pilot in the front seat. She was one of 1,800 women who were accepted into the WASP program.[2] She was assigned to the Blytheville Army Air Field.[3]

The WASP pilots were not recognized as military pilots until the 1970s.[2] In 2010, Nuckols and approximately 200 other WASP pilots received the Congressional Gold Medal for their wartime service.[4] The Vermont Legislature also passed a resolution honoring Nuckols for "her extraordinary military service as a World War II flying WASP."[5]

Field hockey player

Kenworthy was also a star field hockey player. In November 1940, she was selected as a first-team left back on the All-America women's field hockey team.[6] She was also selected as a reserve player on the 1939 All-America team and as a first-team All-American in 1941.[7][8]

She resumed playing field hockey as a center halfback after the war and traveled to Europe in 1948 as part of the U.S. national team.[9][10] In 1988, she became one of the charter inductees into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame.[11]

Personal life

She was married in 1948 to E. Marshall Nuckols,[12] who became a senior executive at Campbell Soup Co.[13]

References
  1. "Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) Burial Locations" (PDF). Texas Women's University. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. "She Also Served". Stratton Magazine. September 9, 2014.
  3. "AT-10 Wichita" (PDF). Aircorps Aviation. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  4. "Vermonter, WWII pilot, honored". Rutland Daily Herald. March 11, 2010. pp. A1, A2 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "No. R-423, Senate concurrent resolution honoring Patricia Kenworthy Nuckols" (PDF). Vermont Legislature. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  6. "All-America Field Hockey Team Picked". The Baltimore Sun. November 24, 1940 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Madison Girl Honored by Hockey Body". Wisconsin State Journal. November 26, 1939 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "All-American Team Blanks Reserves, 5–0". Lancaster Daily Intelligencer Journal. November 25, 1941 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Name Six Teams For Hockey Test". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 17, 1947 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Women Field Hockey Experts Will Play Matches in Europe". The Scranton Times. April 16, 1948 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Don Bostrom (January 17, 1988). "23 women become first to enter U.S. 'Hall'". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. C8 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Nuckols-Kenworth". The Philadelphia Inquirer. July 9, 1948. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Obituary". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 12, 1994. p. 52 – via Newspapers.com.
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