[3] Lotowycz studied botany at Vassar College, where she began mountaineering in the Shawangunks and later the Canadian Rockies.

She graduated in 1938[1] and then joined the Experiment in International Living, a student-exchange program which enabled her to climb in the Swiss Alps and scale the Matterhorn.

[5][6] Lotowycz and the other WASP filers were finally recognized as WWII military veterans in 1977,[7] and received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.

[9] She married Navy pilot Vlademir "Bill" Lotowycz, and they moved to Damascus after the war while he worked for Pan American World Airways.

At the age of 88, Lotowycz co-authored a book, Illustrated Field Guide to Shrubs and Woody Vines of Long Island, with Barbara Conolly.