Edna Christofferson

Edna Emma Bissner Christofferson was an American aviator, markswoman, and radiographer. She was the wife of pioneering aviator Silas Christofferson.

Early life Edna Christofferson was the daughter of Martin and Mary Elizabeth Bissner, immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine. Upon arriving in the United States, they settled in Pipestone County, Minnesota, where Edna was born in 1886. Becker was the heir to the Becker Auto Company, a car dealership in Portland, Oregon.

When the Beckers' home caught fire in 1907, Edna Becker ran back into the flaming building to rescue her pet dog. ).

In 1909, Edna's friend Hazel Maddux was accused of vehicular manslaughter. Edna, who had seen the collision, was a reluctant witness. Though she freely admitted knowing the driver's identity, she refused to say who it was, claiming that "The woman has an old and kindly mother whose heart would be broken did she know of this." Since Rudolph Becker Jr. was still alive, it can be assumed they had divorced.

Marriage to Silas Christofferson Becker made her first flight in 1911, with Silas Christofferson as her pilot. They took off from Pearson Field in Vancouver, reaching heights of 500 feet and circling the field twice. He chose two women, Edna Becker and Mrs. R.F. Cox, to take turns flying with him. With no safety harness, she clung to an aluminum bar with a half-inch diameter. Despite a strong wind, the two reached an altitude of 1,250 feet. The marriage took many of their friends by surprise. An hour after the ceremony, they made a honeymoon flight over the Willamette Valley that lasted thirty minutes.

Though Edna made many flights with Silas as her co-pilot, she did not fly solo during their marriage.

A 1913 article mentioned Edna Christofferson helping her husband prepare planes for an air show, and claimed she "knows pretty near everything there is to know about aeroplanes." A Reno Gazette-Journal article, looking back on Silas's career in 1961, mentioned Edna approving a landing site for Silas, and said that "his wife's advice was sought and always adhered to by the famous airman." After the Christoffersons' friend Lincoln Beachey was killed in 1915, she organized a ceremony to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his death.

On October 31, 1916, Silas was testing a new biplane prototype when his engine died. He glided downward for several hundred feet, then fell the last one hundred feet to the ground. She directed the men who carried him to the ambulance and accompanied him to the hospital, where he died of internal injuries. After further studies in Chicago, she was named vice president of the American Association of Radiological Technicians.

For six years, Christofferson worked for Dr. F. E. Diemer as his chief radiographer.

Christofferson traveled to Germany in 1930 for post-graduate work at the Lerchenfeld Institute in Hamburg. She was impressed by commercial aviation in Europe, noting the efficiency of the Berlin airport in particular. She was the founder and president of the Oregon Women's Revolver Club, formed in 1928. The club had fifteen charter members, including Christofferson's sister-in-law, Ethel Bissner.

Christofferson traveled to New York in 1928, where she took part in a police shooting competition and scored 96 out of 100 possible points. Police captain Ralph Micelli called her "the best woman revolver shot I have ever seen." She was the first president of the chapter, with stunt pilot Dorothy Hester serving as vice president.

In 1931, Christofferson enrolled in a flying class run by the National Solo Flying Corporation. The company operated a Portland airport soon to be dedicated in honor of her late husband, and Christofferson wanted to fly at the dedication ceremony. It was the fifteenth anniversary of Silas Christofferson's death.

In February 1932, Christofferson set out on an expedition to Alaska with pilot William Graham. The two were hoping to find the lost steamship SS Baychimo, which held a cargo of valuable furs.

Christofferson returned to Portland on June 26, 1932. She set out again for Alaska in October 1932,

Christofferson returned to Portland in December 1935.

Edna Christofferson died in a hospital in Vancouver, Washington on March 8, 1945. Her age was recorded as 64, though an 1886 birthdate would have made her 58 years old at the time of her death.