Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt

Martha Anne Woodrum Zillhardt
of Roanoke, Va.Martha Anna Woodrum Zillhardt, 85, of Roanoke, Va., formerly of Fincastle, died Wednesday, May 22, 2002. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Jacob C. Jack Zillhardt; her father and mother, the late United States Representative, Clifton A. Woodrum, Sr. and Martha Hancock Woodrum; and her brother, Clifton A. Woodrum, Jr. Martha Anne was a graduate of Jefferson High School and Gunston Hall School, Washington, D.C. Upon her graduation, she managed the 1936 Congregational Re-Election Campaign of her father. She was employed for several years by WDBJ Radio Station. Martha Anne soloed in 1940 and shortly thereafter established Woodrum Flying Service. A flight school and charter service at Roanoke's Woodrum Field. She produced the first All State Air Show with the Roanoke Jaycees in 1949. In 1950, she won her division in the Ninety Nine Transcontinental Air Race (Powder Puff Derby). She became the first woman in Virginia to earn an instrument rating and run an airport fixed-base operation. Following her marriage to Jack Zillhardt in 1953, she moved to Binghamton, N.Y. In 1963, she and her husband retired to Fincastle, Va. Martha Anne was a former member of the Roanoke Airport Advisory Committee and was inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of fame in 1985. She was a member of the Junior League of Roanoke, the Roanoke Assembly and the Roanoke Women's Democratic Club. She is survived by her two nephews, Clifton A. Woodrum, III and his wife Emily, and M. Lanier Woodrum and his wife Beverly, all of Roanoke; two stepchildren, Janet Z. Asphaug, Ronna, Norway and John J. Zillhardt, Andover, Minn. Funeral services will be conducted 11 a.m. Saturday, May 25, 2002 at Oakey's Roanoke Chapel with Rev. Robert Ward, Chaplain and Brandon Oaks Retirement Community, officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Burial Park. The family will receive friends 3 to 6 p.m. Friday at Oakey's Roanoke Chapel. Memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 9 East Church Ave., Roanoke, Va. 24011, or to the Virginia Aviation Museum, 5701 Hunterman Rd., Richmond International Airport, Richmond, Va. 23250. Arrangements by Oakey's Roanoke Chapel.