ST. LOUIS — Friday, March 8, family members gathered in St. Louis to celebrate 99 years of life for Sue Matheis, a woman who spent the latter part of her life saying "yes" to whatever came her way.
Sue moved to St. Louis in the 1960s after raising her five children in Cincinnati with her husband. As she transitioned to an empty nester she said she did not know what was next for her.
"One day, my husband brought home a trolley car and parked it outside the house and said it was mine," Sue said laughing. "I never thought of a trolley in my life, and I made that into a business."
Sue's husband asked her to work at his latest purchase, the Riverfront Trolley. Sue said she spent the next 13 to 15 years of her life making that business successful, and then, they sold the business.
Sue's daughter, Terri Matheis, remembers when her mother went back to work.
"She was ahead of her time," Terri said. "My friend's mothers weren't out there working … She is a really hard act to follow."
Sue's next "yes" took her into the air.
"There was a group of women in town and they called themselves the Ninety-Nines and they flew," Sue said. She became a pivotal member of the Greater St. Louis Area Chapter of the Ninety-Nines International in the 1970s.
Around this time, a friend gave her an opportunity to do traffic watch.
"I was supposed to be flying the other reporter around. We were just lifted off the ground when Tom Foster handed me the microphone and he said to me, 'You're reporting traffic in a couple of minutes.' I had never done it before," Sue said.
She became known as "Sue in Copter Two" working as a traffic reporter for KMOX radio in St. Louis.
She remembers getting home and having a lot of calls about her traffic report.
"There was one from a man who was furious. He was an older man and he thought it was terrible that a woman would be doing that. It was a beginning," Sue said "It turned out to be a lot of fun."
Sue told 5 On Your Side she had wonderful adventures and she met so many interesting people.
On another adventure, she took a dip in the Mississippi River during the 7th Annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race as the hot air balloon slowly lost air.
"I was scared to death. We were supposed to go to a party that afternoon," Sue said. "It wasn't until 11 o'clock at night that I even reached home."
Sue believes that the man who owned the hot air balloon was the top balloon pilot at the time.
"In Forest Park, while waiting for the race to start, he was giving a lot of free rides to people and he was using up all the air that we would need later on … It was scary."
She worked for Robert Hyland and flew with Allen Barklage. Sue met people like Margaux Hemingway and interviewed many dignitaries including presidents. She partnered with Don Miller for those traffic reports.
Terri said she "took Bobby Costas under her wing."
In 2008, the Whirly Girls honored Sue by naming a scholarship after her. According to their website, Sue was the 194th woman pilot in the world in 1975 to be affiliated with Whirly Girls International.
Sue transitioned into the health field at the young age of 70 when she took her entrepreneurial skills and created a business. Terri said that Sue just closed her business two years ago.
"I don't see boundaries. If something really interesting came along, I don't know if I would say yes or no," she said. "It all depends on the energy and your life as it is."
As for those who still have their lives ahead of them she wants them to know that "whatever comes along into your life and presents itself maybe try it. You never know what will present itself."
