Mrs. Geraldine (Gerry) Louise Kidd, widow of Stephen Kidd, of Princeton, New Jersey, died at Meadow Lakes in Hightstown, New Jersey, on February 25, 2011.

She was born Geraldine Louise Blewett Meyers on March 5, 1922 in Cherokee, Iowa, the daughter of Audrey J. Blewett Meyers and Blanche Lathrop. A convert to Roman Catholicism, she was baptized on July 14, 1945, at the age of 23.

Gerry attended college in Memphis, Tennessee and later became a pilot, working for Piper Aircraft Company out of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, ferrying planes throughout the Eastern United States.

She met her future husband, Stephen Kidd, when she had a dramatic accident while ferrying planes with him. As he recounted in Flying magazine:

"Occasionally, a customer would order two or three planes to be delivered together, and we would organize a group flight. Atlanta needed two Cruisers, and I was paired with one of the more attractive pilots, a girl named Gerry. (This was not entirely a coincidence, thanks to my friend the dispatcher). We signed out two Cruisers Saturday morning with Hagerstown our first stop. It was a beautiful day and we arrived and departed Hagerstown on schedule, flying south 5,000 feet above the Sky Line Drive. Trimming out at altitude, I checked my partner's position, but Gerry was nowhere to be seen- until I looked back and far below. She was in a spiral glide, headed toward a valley."

"By diving steeply, I caught up with her as she set up an approach to a swatch of snow-covered farm nestled between the hills. Following at a respectable distance, I watched her clear the treetops, slip, flare and touch down, all very neatly. Then the wheels dug into the soft snow and the tail vaulted over the wings for an abrupt flip, ending in a puff of snow. The plane was not in the least crumpled. My instant decision was to stay in the air rather than risk having two inverted planes on the ground."

He went on to describe how she waved him off and eventually caught the train north while he landed nearby and came back to salvage the plane. They later married on November 14, 1948 and moved to Princeton, NJ where Mr. Kidd spent his career as Assistant Director of Princeton University's Office for Research and Project Development (ORPA).

Mrs. Kidd was an avid bridge player and active in the University League and the League of Women Voters.

She spent her last years at Meadow Lakes in East Windsor, New Jersey. The family takes this opportunity to express their sincere thanks to the staff of Meadow Lakes for their competent, patient and caring work on behalf of Mrs. Kidd.

Gerry is survived by her children, Shirley Spira of New York, NY, Patricia Kidd of Pennington, NJ, Margaret Kidd and Carolyn Kidd of Keene, NH, John Steven Kidd of Chesapeake City, MD. Her grandchildren are Thomas Goldstein of Chevy Chase, MD, Danielle Goldstein of San Francisco, CA., James Kidd of Pittsburgh, PA, and John Kidd of King of Prussia, PA, and great-grandchildren Nina and Betsy Goldstein of Chevy Chase, MD. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Jean Dunham, of Seaford, DE, and brother-in-law Robert Kidd of Fairfax, VA.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 11am at the Aquinas Institute on the corner of Stockton Street and Library Place in Princeton, NJ.

Contributions in Gerry's memory to The American Cancer Society at ACS Memorial Processing Center, P.O. Box 7, East Syracuse, NY, 13057-0007 are appreciated.