[2] Willhite started flying lessons in November 1927, with her dad paying for it.
[9] She earned her pilot's license in 1928[10] Willhite was the thirteenth to sign up in a class of eighteen and made her first solo flight on 13 January 1928 after getting thirteen hours of instruction.
[12] She worked as a commercial pilot until 1944 (the first deaf person to do so), carrying airmail.
[5] She also worked as a barnstormer, specializing in flour bombing and balloon racing.
[13] Willhite was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1978[14] and South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame shortly before her death in 1991, and her plane the Pard is now on display at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama.