Tammera Holmes, a Chicago-area native and pioneer in aviation, was laid to rest this week. NBC Chicago’s Vi Nguyen reports.
A Chicago-area aviation pioneer was laid to rest Thursday in Oak Forest, with family, friends and students of Dr. Tammera Holmes celebrating her life and legacy.
“I want to thank you all for sharing my daughter with me,” said Tanya Smith Butler, Holmes’ mother. “You all have been so gracious, and kind, and loving, and I’m just so happy to see so many people come out to honor her.”
Holmes, a Maywood native, died of ovarian cancer last week at the age of 46. A wife, mother, daughter and sister, Holmes served as a mentor to dozens of children, inspiring many to pursue a career in aviation.
“She did so much just to extend a hand to a kid that had no idea what he was doing, and the impact that I was doing to myself—she put me on the right path,” one Aerostar alum told NBC Chicago..
“One of her slogans in reference to her kids was that she got kids high,” another Aerostar alum said. “Now I can only imagine that she’s flying high.”
Her passion for aviation sparked when she was a teen, attending an event sponsored by the Tuskegee Airmen at Meigs Field Airport. She took her first flight with her “aviation dad.”
“All of you aviation people in this room, it’s incumbent upon us to keep the legacy of Tammera Holmes alive,” Kenneth Rapier, President of the Tuskegee Airmen Chicago Chapter, said.
Holmes made it her mission to change the face of the industry by attracting Black and Brown professionals to the field by launching her own aviation consulting business then her nonprofit organization, the AeroStar Avion Institute, to expose teens to STEM and aviation.
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Her programs changed the lives of thousands of teens, including those at Air Force Academy High School.
“For nearly a decade, Tammera worked tirelessly alongside our staff and leadership to ensure that our students had opportunities to explore aviation, earn their pilot license and view a future beyond their imagine,” Yashika Nicole Tippett-Eggleston, principal of Air Force Academy High School, said.
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The school plans to rename its aviation program next year in honor of her memory, saying she was an instrumental figure on campus.
“Tam’s influence helped bring the aviation simulators to our school and it continues to stand as a testament to her beliefs and the transformative power of education and mentorship,” Tippett-Eggleston said.
As a tribute to Holmes, a flyover was performed by Tuskegee NEXT alongside the AeroStar graduate flight crew.
In her final moments of life, Holmes shared what legacy meant to her in her own words.
“Legacy is not about what you do when you’re here, but legacy is about what you left when you’re gone,” Holmes said in an audio recording. “Legacy is about what you leave behind when you’re gone.”
Holmes received the 2023 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. Her family said to continue her mission, people in the community can donate to her organization AeroStar Avian Institute.
