Moya Marie Olsen Lear (March 27, 1915 – December 5, 2001) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who was the wife of aviation pioneer

Bill Lear William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding Learjet, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the battery eliminator for the B battery, and developed the ...

Early life and education

Moya Marie Olsen was born in Chicago, the daughter of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

performer Ole Olsen, whose Depression-era show '' Hellzapoppin''' was one of the longest running

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musicals in history. Moya earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

and the Pace Institute in New York.

Career

Moya was introduced to Bill Lear by her father in his dressing room in 1938 while she was writing "The Book" for the play. She told Victor Boesen that she had dreamed of being a famous dancer, in the mold of

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...

and

Vaslav Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

, only to be told by her teacher that she would make a good

jitterbug Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances. Swing dan ...

. Lear and she were married in 1942. In 1946, the couple moved to

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

where Lear conducted his

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fitt ...

manufacturing and development. In 1967, the Learjet company was sold and the

Stead Air Force Base Reno Stead Airport is a large public and military general aviation airport located in the North Valleys area, 10 nautical miles (19 km) northwest of the central business district of Reno, in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. A for ...

near

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, was acquired. Moya became active in Nevada Festival Ballet, the Sierra Arts Foundation, and Nevada Opera. She received six honorary doctoral degrees. She devoted a substantial amount of time to philanthropy in the

area. After the death of her husband, Lear attempted with investors to complete his innovative lightweight

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

airplane, the

LearAvia Lear Fan The LearAvia Lear Fan 2100 was a turboprop business aircraft designed in the 1970s, with an unusual configuration. The Lear Fan never entered production. Design and development The LearFan was designed by Bill Lear, but not completed before his ...

. The project ultimately failed to obtain

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

certification because of a gearing problem, and never went into production. From 1981 to 1983, Bonnie Tiburzi put on three "Women of Accomplishment" luncheons for the Wings Club honoring certain women, including Moya Lear.

Personal life

Moya and Bill Lear had four children: well-known pilot,

UFOlogist Ufology ( ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and f ...

and

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

John Lear, Shanda Lear, David and Tina. Lear died in

in 2001.

References

Sources

* Boesen, Victor (1971) ''They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The Incredible Story of Bill Lear''. New York: Doubleday .

External links

The William P. and Moya Olsen Lear Papers
at The Museum of Flight (Seattle, Wash.). * Phyllis R. Mose

* Jim Street (1999

from

Aviation Week ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aerospace, defense and aviatio ...

Lady of Perpetual Motion
in Aviation Week
Sweetheart Award 1999
from Nevada Women's Fund

from Nevada Senate 2003

from aerotalk.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lear, Moya 1915 births 2001 deaths Ohio State University alumni American aviation businesspeople Pace University alumni