Aviator Ila Fox Loetscher began rescuing sea turtles in Texas after the age of fifty

The best years behind her, the joys of a beloved occupation in the past, the children grown, and a beloved husband suddenly dead: this is how the depressed heroines of television serials on Channel Two usually look. Such was also the shape of life after fifty for Ila Fox Loetscher (1904-2000), a pioneer of American aviation and a friend of Amelia Earhart herself.

What happened next?

What happened next was that Ila moved to the resort town of South Padre Island in Texas and set about rescuing sea turtles. In her yard she built a stage, from which she lectured on helping reptiles and proclaimed the many threats to their future. Together with like-minded friends, Ila organised expeditions to Mexico for turtle eggs, which they guarded until the hatchlings emerged. A decade and a half later she registered a turtle-rescue organisation, Sea Turtle, which is today one of the largest centres for the protection of marine reptiles.

Of her 95 years, the former aviatrix gave forty to the turtles, becoming one of the most prominent faces of the animal protection movement and inspiring hundreds of people to help wildlife.