CLIFTON - To qualify for a private pilot's license in 1932, Emma H. Kohl had to tear down and rebuild the engine of her open-cockpit plane. She is believed to be the first woman in Hamilton County to receive a pilot's license.

Mrs. Kohl died at Saturday at Scarlet Oaks Retirement Community. The longtime Westwood resident was 93.

"Mom told us that in those days, as part of their training, each pilot-to-be had to disassemble and assemble an airplane engine ... because often engine trouble forced the pilot to land in a field and to go into the nearest town and have fixed, or have made, the replacement part for whatever caused the problem," her son Ronald H. Kohl of Tullahoma, Tenn., told the Enquirer last year.

"Mom was thrilled when her engine ran perfectly after she reassembled it. She was particularly pleased, as the engines of some of the men in the class did not run.

"When Mom graduated from Hughes High School, she went to work to earn money for flying lessons," her son said. It required permission from her parents, who initially refused to consent because of the danger. "My grandparents saw how determined she was and how persistently she pursued the necessary accumulation of funds, working at Crosley Radio and City Hall, and they relented."

Flying out of Lunken Airport, Mrs. Kohl wore goggles and a helmet - a thin one for summer and a thicker one for colder weather. Her family treasures those mementos today.

When she ended her flying days, Mrs. Kohl became a full-time mother and homemaker. She led a dozen Brownies to become Girl Scout Troop 118 of the Westwood First Presbyterian Church. She organized fund-raisers to finance a six-week trip to Europe for the troop to meet pen pals in 1959.

After she raised her children, Mrs. Kohl worked as a secretary in the detective department of Shillito's Department Store and traveled internationally with her husband, Harry "Tinner" Kohl.

After her husband died, she was active with the Scandinavian Society and was a member of the Zoological Society and the Westwood Women's Club. She served on several governing boards of her church and took the minutes of City Council meetings for the Charter party.

She also joined the Cincinnati Weavers Guild and acquired two looms that filled her spare bedroom.

Mrs. Kohl was preceded in death by a daughter, Lynn P. Kohl.

In addition to her son, survivors include another son, Wayne H. Kohl of LaCrescenta, Calif.; a brother, Louis H. Howe of Whittier, Calif.; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday at Westwood First Presbyterian Church, 3011 Harrison Ave, followed by a reception. Mrs. Kohl requested that her remains be donated to the UC College of Medicine.

Memorials: Westwood First Presbyterian Church, 3011 Harrison Ave., Cincinnati 45211; or the Alzheimer's Association of Cincinnati, 644 Linn St., Suite 1026, Cincinnati 45203.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com