Sarah

Sarah Kalishek, professionally known as “Babe” Kalishek, was born in Menominee County, Michigan, in 1902, the second daughter of Mary and Conrad Kalishek. By 1910, she relocated with her family to Delta County, Michigan. As a teenager, Sarah left home to pursue performance work, touring the United States in vaudeville productions and later working with trained-animal acts during the silent film era.

Sarah entered aviation through Barr’s Flying Circus, where she trained as an aerial acrobat and wing walker despite having limited prior flight experience. She rapidly distinguished herself and became a trusted aerial performer for stunt pilot W. C. Campbell. By the late 1910s, she was executing advanced wing-walking stunts, including standing atop aircraft during aerobatic maneuvers, hanging from the landing gear, and performing choreographed routines on flying airplanes.

By 1919, Sarah expanded her role in aviation by learning to pilot aircraft herself. She continued barnstorming and performing aerial stunts while developing skills as a flyer. In 1921, she traveled overseas with Barr’s Flying Circus, becoming one of the earliest American aerial acrobats to perform in Japan, where she appeared before large audiences and participated in motion-picture projects documenting aviation stunts.

Throughout the early 1920s, Sarah gained national recognition for her physical strength, endurance, and precision as a wing walker. Contemporary accounts frequently noted her ability to manually crank aircraft propellers—an activity typically requiring multiple people—and her participation in early parachute-jump exhibitions. She performed in hundreds of aerial shows across the United States during the barnstorming era.

In 1923, Sarah married fellow stunt performer Dick Kerwood, with whom she had one son. Following Kerwood’s death in 1924, she returned temporarily to Michigan before resuming aviation work as a wing walker and stunt performer. She appeared in motion pictures, flew exhibition tours, and worked with multiple pilots, including Ernest Berg, continuing to perform nationwide.

During the mid-1920s, Sarah performed with Hinck’s Motor Derby and Flying Circus and later with the Federated Flyers. She survived multiple aviation accidents, including a serious crash in Wisconsin in 1926, and remained active in aerial performance despite the inherent risks of the profession.

In 1929, Sarah and her sister Lydia Kalishek registered with the intent to participate in the first all-women’s air derby organized by Amelia Earhart, though neither ultimately competed.

Later, Sarah married stunt pilot Albert Warrender, a former member of the Royal Flying Corps who became a prominent Hollywood stunt flyer and a pioneer in autogyro development. The couple eventually settled in Oregon. During World War II, Sarah contributed to the war effort by teaching radio code to Civil Air Patrol cadets and working as a draftswoman in aircraft manufacturing.

In 1967, Sarah became the first woman manager-secretary of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce. She remained active in civic, artistic, and technical pursuits throughout her life. Sarah Kalishek Warrender lived until the age of 97.