Flying Tiger Line Pilots Association

In Memoriam...

Trudy Theresa Bogert

04/12/1930- 06/29/2012

  Trudy Bogert who went from small town farm girl to flight attendant at the dawn of the jet age to well known business woman, passed away in Santa Monica June 29, 2012 leaving a loving husband , family and a legacy of philanthropy. Trudy moved from Minot, North Dakota to the West Coast at the age of eighteen. She soon became a flight attendant for the Flying Tiger Line. Her career with Flying Tigers spanned both the Korean and Vietnam War’s during which periods the airline transported military as well as civilian personnel.

She married her first husband and moved to Santa Monica in the 1950s. They had four sons and divorced in the early 1960s. Following the split Trudy went to work for a stock brokerage firm in Los Angeles as a receptionist with an ambition to learn the business. In the decade of the 1970s, Trudy started investing in the stock market and real estate, buying and selling homes in the Los Angeles area. She also co-owned a social event management. By the end of that decade the single mother of four had transformed herself into a successful businesswoman.

In the early 1980s Trudy met rocket engineer and Nike Air Sole co-developer Robert C. Bogert, also a long time Los Angeles resident. They soon married, merging two large families. Trudy and Bob enjoyed a three-decade love affair in which they traveled the world, flourished socially, built businesses and supported charities. For the last twenty years Trudy was the investment manger of their portfolios and primary manger for their real estate properties.

With respect to charitable work, Trudy was active in the Los Angeles Chapter of the Achievement Rewards for Collage Scientists ( ARCS ), and The League for Children. In a 2007 interview Trudy said, “My main interest is children. I have been a member of ARCS for 25 years. With these brilliant minds these scientists will make major advancements for our country, and be able to cure many diseases.”

In addition to her husband Bob, Trudy is survived by her son Nicholas J. Marechal, his wife Arlene and their children Alexandra and Shane; son Christopher J. Marechal, his wife Britta and their daughter Emmerson; and son Michael B.Marechal, his wife Laura and their children; Natalie and Neill Zimmerman. Trudy’s son, Peter M. Marechal, passed away in 1996. Additionally, Trudy is survived by her stepsons Ross and Peter Bogert, her brother Robert Trudell and other members of the Trudell family.

Published in the Los Angeles Times on July 4, 2012.