Retired Kansas lawmaker, Black aviation leader, dies at 98

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Ulysses Lee “Rip” Gooch, who was a leader in the Black aviation industry and Kansas’ oldest serving state senator when he retired at the age of 80, has died. A post on Jackson Mortuary’s website says Gooch died on Wednesday. He was 98. No cause of death was listed. The Wichita Eagle reports that he is a member of the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame, is part of the inaugural class of the Black Aviation Hall of Fame in Memphis, and logged around 20,000 hours of flight time over his more than half-century long aviation career.