The Tragic Leap of Lois Marshall
During the Great Depression, millions of Pennsylvanians found themselves facing an uncertain financial future, and many sought enterprising ways to keep the dark shadows of poverty at bay. Some risked jail time manufacturing moonshine, others traded labor for food and other necessities, and still others foraged for berries, bottles and scrap metal-- anything that could be sold, even if the reward was mere pennies. One woman from Allegheny County had a completely different strategy-- she jumped out of airplanes. Born in 1912, Bridget Lois Sangelo lived in Turtle Creek, in a home at 422 Highland Avenue with her father and ten brothers and sisters. Andrew Sangelo, the head of the household, was employed as a bench hand by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. Lois, as she preferred to be called, was also employed by Westinghouse, and the meager earnings of Lois and her father were just enough to put food on the table. But then, at the peak of the Depression, Lois lo...
