Board of Directors
Silver Wings Board of Directors
RONNIE BOHLANDER, President
Ronnie started her 27 year career with TWA in March of 1965. Her first base, Chicago, offered her the opportunity to experience both Convair 880 and the” Connie”. The Windy City still holds a special place in her heart.
A California Girl, she transferred to LA to be closer to home. She became an In Flight Supervisor , in LAX, for 3 years starting in 1968.
Ronnie is married to Dr. George Bohlander. They moved to the Phoenix area in 1977 where he was a professor at Arizona State University, in the College of Business. That meant commuting. She experienced the joys of a commuter apartment in Queens while flying JFK International in 1988. Transferring once again to LAX she flew the polar to London and Paris with intermittent flights to HNL.
Ronnie and George have 2 children, Ryan and Kate. Both of them marched with her on the picket line at the airport in Phoenix at ages 14 and 9 respectively. Now they each have 2 children. They and their families have attended several SWI conventions as guest. They live nearby and the grandparents do a lot of babysitting. The Bohlander’s recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.
She still loves to travel, reads and does Pilates. Ronnie is a member of P.E.O., a philanthropic organization that raises money for, and supports women’s education.
KATE NORVELL,
Vice President
Katie came right out of college in 1970 to start her career with TWA. In 1973, she went back to Breech Training Academy to teach three training classes, then off to fly New York International. In 1977, she was one of the original 200 Flight Attendants who transferred into the newly opened St. Louis domicile. Katie was also a Service Manager in St. Louis on the L-1011.
She was flying domestic out of St. Louis when the strike occurred in 1986. She was recalled in June of 1988 and based in New York flying International. That is where she met her future husband, Captain Jim Liddell. Katie continued flying New York International for 5 years and finished her career with TWA in 2001. That is when American Airlines bought TWA. She flew for two years for American Airlines and was furloughed in July of 2003.
Katie retired in 2006 when she moved to Sarasota, FL. to marry and make her home with Jim Liddell. He retired from TWA in 1998.
Katie became Vice President of SWI, in 2013. She has enjoyed every moment of her job of working with the chapters. With so many new members joining this last year, she has been very active in re organizing the inactive chapters, as well as forming several new chapters. This opportunity presented itself because of so much interest in our 2019 Convention at the TWA Hotel at JFK.
VALERIE ROFFE, Secretary
Valerie began her career with TWA in June 1965 a week after graduating from St. Louis University. She was based in JFK domestic and international and MKC. In 1971 she married her husband, Ken, and began 20 years of moving and travel.
They have lived in New York, Toronto, San Francisco, and Cleveland and presently reside in Westport, CT. She retired from TWA in 1988 to raise their two boys, Peter and Luke.
After three years as a stay at home mom, she was offered a temporary position as a paraprofessional teaching gifted and talented students at the middle school level. Fourteen years later with the experience of a lifetime, she moved up to the high school and worked with a Special Education Program called Study Skills which provided extra support for students with learning disabilities. After 24 years in the Westport Schools, she retired in 2017.
FRANCES ROWLEY, Treasurer
Frances was hired in LA in 1972 where she was living after graduating from Washington State University in 1971. Her hire date was postponed for one year and she went to training in 1973. After graduating, she was based in NYD.
Periodically she flew international in the summers, but her flying career was mostly on domestic routes.
In the 80’s she went back to school part time at Baruch College and received her MBA in accounting. For 8 years or more, she worked partime for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and flew on the weekends. In 1999, she retired from TWA to work full time in accounting.
In 2012, PWC sent her on a short-term assignment to Singapore. It was very exciting to explore Singapore and other countries in the area. Outside of that assignment, Manhattan has been her home for close to 50 years. She is very involved with her University Alumni Association, the tech helper for the Yorkville Library Book Discussion group and tries to explore NYC as was as possible. And of course, she travels a lot and has visited 76 countries and counting.
ANITA RIDPATH, SWI- Convention Co-Ordinator & Web Manager
Anita has served as Vice President of SWI from 1998-2002 and President from 2003-2008. She was based in JFK and SFO as a Flight Attendant and Service Manager during her TWA career which started May 30, 1966.
Her daughter Alison is an Infectious Disease Doctor at the CDC in Atlanta and lives with her husband Dallas and their daughter Avery 11 months old.
Anita is busy traveling to Atlanta to visit her daughter and new granddaughter as often as possible and volunteers for various charities in her community. She still is “Auntie” to now 14 yr. old triplet boys, Kai, Luka & Noa whom she has volunteered for since they were born Nov. 2005.
Running in the forest near her home, playing pickle ball and traveling are some of the things she enjoys doing in her spare time. She lives in Aptos, California.