Rachel was born in Osaka, Japan on March 22, 1914. She graduated at the top of her class from the Canadian Academy, at just 16 years old, in Kobe, then traveled alone to the United States to attend Western Michigan Teachers College. During the Depression, she was not able to find a teaching job and returned to Japan. Rachel married a sea captain, Dick Koorn, and left with him for Java as WWII broke out.

In 1943, she was widowed and she came back to the U.S. with her son, pregnant with a second son. She accepted a teaching position and moved to Santa Monica in 1948. In 1956, she obtained her pilot license and joined the Los Angeles Chapter. She held many positions, including Chairman. Together with Sally LaForge, she established a ‘Back to Basics’ race, teaching women to use only their three basic flight instruments. Rachel coordinated the Women in Flight display at the Museum of Flying.

Rachel lived to the age of 100 and died on January 9, 2015.

99s News Magazine Article (2015)