‘A freedom you can’t describe:’ Local woman celebrates 100th birthday in flight

SOUTHINGTON, Ohio (WKBN) – A local woman took her birthday celebration to new heights, hopping back into the cockpit to celebrate hitting the century mark.

Josephine Riffle Laakso recently turned 100 years old. She celebrated her birthday in the air on Thursday at the Warren Airport.

Affectionately known by some of her closest friends and family as “Peppy,” Laakso earlier her pilot’s license in 1946. She was the first female pilot in the Mahoning Valley, and her eye has been on the sky ever since she was a young girl.

“Ever since I was 13 and Amelia Earhart went down, I wanted to go look for her,” Laakso said.

Never one that’s been afraid to push the limits, Peppy’s no stranger to breaking barriers no matter what altitude they are.

“I kind of roamed into the Cleveland airspace once, and the next thing I knew, there was an interceptor airplane next to me, motioning for me to get out of there. I thought he was looking at the nice little yellow airplane,” she recalled.

For the last four years, Pepp has taken a birthday flight, so to celebrate her 100th, she wanted to get out and stretch her wings again.

“It’s a freedom you can’t describe. When you get off the ground, you don’t have any other troubles,” she said.

Scott Dunn was the pilot on Thursday, his life hitting its own patch of turbulence recently altering his flight path.

“I’m dealing with cancer. I’m just thankful that I have today. Peppy is 100 years old today. I’m not going to get to see 100, so I’m going to celebrate 100 through her,” Dunn said.

His time spent in the cockpit with his favorite co-pilot made it even more special.

“She’s an awesome lady,” Dunn said. “God has given her 100 years on this Earth, and I’m just blessed to be part of this celebration here today.”

And no matter where life’s runway goes, there’s no keeping Peppy grounded.

“When you get off the ground, you don’t have any other troubles, you’re concentrating on your flying, and that’s it. Nothing else matters,” she said.

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