Stephanie Karpinski, 92; Polish Army Pilot During World War II

Stephanie C. Karpinski, 92, a pilot in the Polish army during World War II at a time when female pilots were rare in the military anywhere, died Feb. 11 at the Polish Retirement Home in Los Angeles. The cause of death was not reported.

Born Stephanie Wojtulanis in Warsaw, she studied mechanical engineering at Warsaw Technical University. By 1939, she had obtained glider, balloon and motor aircraft pilot licenses, and had become an instructor in parachute jumping.

Assigned to the Polish general staff at the outset of World War II, she flew missions delivering fuel to the fighter brigade defending Warsaw from the Nazis.

She eventually went to Paris, where she worked for the Polish Army Headquarters. During much of the war, she was a ferry pilot in Britain, delivering military aircraft around the country.

After the war, she married Polish Air Force Gen. Stanislaw Karpinski, and the couple immigrated to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. He died in 1982.