After graduating from Cresco High School, Church studied nursing and worked in a San Francisco hospital.
Steve Stimpson, the manager of the San Francisco office of Boeing Air Transport (BAT), would not hire her as a pilot, but did pass along her suggestion to put nurses on board airplanes to calm the public's fear of flying.
[3] The stewardesses, or "sky girls" as BAT called them,[1][4] had to be registered nurses, "single, younger than 25 years old; weigh less than 115 pounds [52 kg]; and stand less than 5 feet, 4 inches tall [1.63 m]".
[1] In addition to attending to the passengers, they were expected to, when necessary, help with hauling luggage, fueling and assisting pilots to push the aircraft into hangars.
[6] The innovation was a resounding success - the other airlines followed BAT's example over the next few years - but an injury from an automobile accident ended her career after 18 months.