Bette Nash
{{Short description|Longest-serving flight attendant (1935–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bette Nash
| image = File:Bette Nash.webp
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Mary Elizabeth Burke
| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|12|31}}
| birth_place = Pleasantville, New Jersey
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|5|17|1935|12|31}}
| death_place = Manassas, Virginia
| other_names =
| occupation = Flight attendant
| years_active = 1957–2024
| known_for = World's longest serving flight attendant
| notable_works =
| children = 1
}}
Mary Elizabeth Burke-Nash (December 31, 1935 – May 17, 2024) was an American flight attendant who was recognized as the world's longest-serving flight attendant in 2022 by Guinness World Records. She worked for various airlines in a career spanning over 65 years.
Background
Mary Elizabeth Burke was born on December 31, 1935, and raised in Pleasantville, New Jersey, just outside Atlantic City.{{Cite news |date=1957-05-16 |title=Betty Burke of Pleasantville, New Jersey at Sacred Heart Junior College |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gastonia-gazette-betty-burke-of-plea/148094324/ |access-date=2024-05-31 |work=The Gastonia Gazette |pages=12}}{{citation |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/91575-oldest-active-flight-attendant |quote=b. 31 December 1935 |title=Oldest flight attendant (female)|publisher=Guinness World records}} She had two younger sisters.{{Cite news |date=November 28, 2017 |title=60 years making the skies a bit friendlier |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/waterloo-region-record-60-years-making-t/148084417/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527181326/https://www.newspapers.com/article/waterloo-region-record-60-years-making-t/148084417/ |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |access-date=May 26, 2024 |work=Waterloo Region Record |pages=23}} She worked summer jobs on the Boardwalk. She studied business at Sacred Heart College.{{Cite web |last=Gannon |first=Joyce |date=November 25, 2007 |title=Flight attendant marks 50 years in her dream job |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/business/employment/2007/11/25/Flight-attendant-marks-50-years-in-her-dream-job/stories/200711250216 |access-date=May 26, 2024 |website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |language=en |archive-date=May 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526033613/https://www.post-gazette.com/business/employment/2007/11/25/Flight-attendant-marks-50-years-in-her-dream-job/stories/200711250216 |url-status=live }}
Burke married James Nash in 1973, and they had a son.{{cite news |last=Risen |first=Clay |date=May 29, 2024 |title=Bette Nash, Longest-Serving Flight Attendant in the World, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/obituaries/bette-nash-dead.html |url-access=limited |accessdate=May 29, 2024 |newspaper=The New York Times}} At the time of her death, Nash lived in Manassas, Virginia.
Career
After working as a legal secretary, she was hired on November 4, 1957, by Eastern Air Lines in Miami.{{Cite web |last=Viser |first=Matt |date=December 14, 2014 |title=A lifetime of lessons, from 30,000 feet – The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/12/14/lifetime-lessons-from-feet/ozglgVrfl43xoFFQ1GR7FL/story.html |access-date=May 26, 2024 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US |archive-date=May 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526033613/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/12/14/lifetime-lessons-from-feet/ozglgVrfl43xoFFQ1GR7FL/story.html |url-status=live }} After attending its charm school, she became a stewardess in 1958.{{Cite web |last=Cohan |first=Michelle |date=December 2, 2016 |title=Lessons from 60 years as a flight attendant |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bette-nash-oldest-flight-attendant/index.html |access-date=May 26, 2024 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=May 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526033557/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bette-nash-oldest-flight-attendant/index.html |url-status=live }} She transferred to Washington, D.C., in 1961. She mostly worked on the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle from Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston so that she could return home to care for her son, who has Down syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. From June 1989, she worked for Trump Shuttle after the Eastern Air Line Shuttle's ground rights and 17 aircraft were sold to Donald Trump.{{Cite web|url=https://www.playboy.com/articles/playboy-interview-donald-trump-1990 |title=Playboy Interview: Donald Trump (1990) |website=Playboy.com |access-date=May 17, 2016}} Just a year later the company was in financial default, with Nash subsequently continuing with its successor US Airways Shuttle, which became the American Airlines Shuttle in 2015 following the merger of US Airways and American Airlines.Clabaugh, Jeff (October 13, 2015). [http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2015/10/13/as-of-saturday-no-more-us-airways-at-dca.html "As of Saturday, no more US Airways at DCA"]. Washington Business Journal. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
For her 50th anniversary as a flight attendant, US Airways honored Nash with a party at Reagan National Airport, including a water salute, typically only reserved for retiring captains or officers.{{cite news |last1=Miroff |first1=Nick |title=A Half-Decade Saving Up Frequent-Flier Miles, Stories |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/05/AR2007110502207.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_16 |access-date=May 25, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 8, 2007}} In 2022, Nash was named the longest-serving flight attendant by Guinness World Records.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/27/worlds-longest-serving-flight-attendant-dies |title=World's longest-serving flight attendant dies aged 88: 'Fly high, Bette' |work=The Guardian |date=May 27, 2024 |accessdate=May 27, 2024 |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527182355/https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/27/worlds-longest-serving-flight-attendant-dies |url-status=live }}
Death
Nash entered hospice care after being diagnosed with breast cancer, but never officially retired.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0vvgqvw533o |title=Longest-serving flight attendant dies at 88 |work=BBC News |date=May 27, 2024 |accessdate=May 27, 2024 |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527184412/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0vvgqvw533o |url-status=live }} She died on May 17, 2024, at the age of 88 after working for 67 years.{{Cite web |last1=Sarnoff |first1=Leah |last2=Sweeney |first2=Sam |date=May 25, 2024 |title=Bette Nash, world's longest-serving flight attendant, dies at 88 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/bette-nash-worlds-longest-serving-flight-attendant-dies/story?id=110561946 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526033557/https://abcnews.go.com/US/bette-nash-worlds-longest-serving-flight-attendant-dies/story?id=110561946 |archive-date=May 26, 2024 |access-date=May 26, 2024 |website=ABC News |language=en}}
References
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Category:Place of birth missing
Category:People from Pleasantville, New Jersey
Category:People from Manassas, Virginia
Category:Deaths from breast cancer in Virginia
Category:20th-century American women
Category:21st-century American women