Paul Revere Braniff

Her love for Paul and his aviation interests led her to compile a very detailed archive on the history of Braniff Airways.

[1] Braniff joined the United States Army during World War I as a mechanic and private on July 6, 1917.

After being honorably discharged from the Army, Paul Braniff joined his brother Tom in an insurance company that carried the family's name.

Charles Lindbergh's monumental 1927 Atlantic crossing sparked massive interest in aviation around the nation.

An estimated 100,000 people turned out to view the twenty two aircraft and hear the pilots, including Braniff, promote the benefits of commercial aviation.

The Oklahoma cities of Altus, Miami, and Guthrie, built airports specifically for air tour usage.

In 1936, Braniff headed to Brazil, and he returned to St. Louis convinced that the company would do great economically if established in South America.

[3]: 21 Intending to retire from aviation, Paul Braniff sold the airline to his brother Tom.

It was after he left that Braniff International Airways became a major player in United States-South America travel and vice versa, as Braniff International Airways began daily flights to various points in that continent and to Europe after the jet era began, with their distinctive livery that included many colors not seen before on aircraft fuselages.

At 44 years old, Braniff was re-called into military service as the United States entered World War II, in 1941.

He moved to Oklahoma, where he worked for another aviation-related company as salesman, selling used aircraft parts.

Braniff was diagnosed with cancer later in his life, and he went on to spend his last couple of years relatively inactive.

Expected to survive his cancer, Braniff suffered a cold in the summer of 1954, which later turned into a pneumonia.

He died on June 1, 1954, from complications of cancer that his doctors stated was directly connected with pneumonia and resulting surgery.