Olive Ann Beech's life exemplifies how initiative, skill and innovation can lead to unimagined success.  As a seven year old, Olive Ann Mellor opened her own checking account.  By the age of eleven, she was running the household affairs (bills, etc.), and at the age of 21 she was the bookkeeper/secretary for the Travel Air Manufacturing Company in Wichita founded by Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman.

She married Walter Beech on February 24, 1930, and together they co-founded Beech Aircraft Corp. in Wichita, Kansas, at the height of the Depression in 1932. Together the Beeches grew the business from 10 employees to 10,000. Two hundred seventy of their Beech Model 17 Staggerwings were manufactured for the U.S. Army during World War II. But after Walter died suddenly from a heart attack in 1950, Olive Ann became president and CEO of the company. During her nearly 20 years in charge, she transformed the company into a multimillion-dollar aerospace corporation. Olive Ann retired in 1968 but continued to serve on the board of directors until 1982, just two years after Raytheon Corp. purchased Beech Aircraft. Beech became the company's first chairman emeritus before dying at home in Wichita in 1993. Beech Aircraft Corp. had a lasting impact on general aviation, producing some of the most popular aircraft of the 20th century. More information about Olive Ann Beech can be found at: http://plaza.wichita.edu/heroines/Heroine/biodisplay.asp?ID=1111