She is perhaps best known locally as the widow of Ervin J. Nutter, who had been chief executive and president of the aircraft parts manufacturer Elano Corp and is the namesake of Wright State University’s multipurpose arena.
But she married Nutter, her second husband, in 1965, when she had just turned 50. By that time, she had already lived a noteworthy life.
It’s a story that starts in Oregon and makes its way to San Francisco, where she first worked professionally as a dancer, both in theaters and in ballet.
In 1937, aviation flew into her life. She was working as a dancer when an agent approached her backstage to ask if she would work as a “theme girl” to promote the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. The job required flying all over country. (It also required her to dress in a pirate costume.)
This was at a time the public saw aviation as perhaps more dangerous and more exotic than it’s seen today, according to an account of her life provided by George Mongon, a friend of Nutter’s and a consultant to area non-profit organizations. Flight attendants were required to be registered nurses, and fear was in the air, so to speak.
But not for Nutter herself.
“In all my years of flying, I’ve never lost my lunch or my luggage,” she once said, a quote she confirmed in a recent interview at her Greene County ranch.
By the time she married Nutter, she had learned to fly. After her marriage, she was helping with the design of certain airplane components. She had been asked to help promote Elano’s Small Aircraft Division and to serve as a company pilot. She also became the first woman in the Ohio Civil Air Patrol, according to Mongon’s account.
Elano had 600 employees in 1985 when it sold to General Electric. Mr. Nutter died in January 2000.
In recent years, Nutter has supported the National Aviation Hall of Fame and has worked to spread the word about the Wright brothers.
Now she’s backing another Wright-related cause: Construction of a 270-foot-high monument near the intersection of interstates 70 and 75, meant to be seen from three miles away in all directions.
Her planned June 20 party at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport isn’t just a celebration of her life; it’s also a fundraiser for the monument.
The planned monument is to be anchored by cables and crowned by a model of the Wrights’ 1905 Flyer, the plane the brothers developed and tested on Huffman Prairie and is regarded as the world’s first practical airplane.
Such a monument could cost $15 million. The group also wants to leave a “perpetual care” endowment of another $3 million. So far, the group has raised about $1.5 million in cash and contributions, according to a spokesman for organizers behind the monument effort.
With help from Mongon, here’s a recent Q&A with Nutter.
When you look back, do you feel you’ve lived a remarkable life? How would you characterize it?
I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do. I made up my mind in the beginning when I was young. I was going to do so many things, and I did.
Why did you become so dedicated to aviation? How did that come about?
Well, I was asked. And that was so strange. I asked, “Why do you want me to help you with aviation? I don’t know a thing about airplanes. I’ve never been close to one.” And I was asked to publicize them and promote them. I was thrilled to do it. I think airplanes are wonderful.
Had you flown before you were asked to promote the 1939 exposition?
No. I had never been on a plane. I fit in very well, and I don’t know why. I haven’t the slightest notion why. I just go along with everybody. I enjoyed discussing aviation.
You did more than fly planes. You helped your husband with design work.
I had an important part in the company. I did a lot. I developed my own manifold.
Do dancing and flying have anything in common?
They’re exciting.
Why do you support the planned I-70/75 “Crossroads” project?
That is a wonderful project. And it doesn’t hurt to promote.
What do you hope happens with your birthday party and fundraiser?
I hope we do a good job on it. I think it’s a good idea. I just hope everybody gets there and unwinds.
Mongon: We'll expect about 350 or 400 people, I think. (Nutter) has been nice enough to offer her birthday celebration to be a fundraiser for the Crossroads project.
You’ve always been a backer of aviation history and a defender of the Wright brothers. Why?
I think people people hardly recognized them (in the past) or did anything with them. I thought people ought to have more respect for them and what they did.
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