Google

Google

Pioneering architect Norma Merrick Sklarek passed Monday at the age of 85.

Sklarek, born in Harlem to Trinadadian parents, was the first African American woman to be licensed as an architect in the United States with certification in the state of New York in 1954 and California in 1962.

ALSO READ: Why We Can Never Forget John Lewis' Contributions

She died Monday in her home of Pacific Palisades, California. She helped design Los Angeles Airport’s Terminal 1 and the American Embassy in Tokyo.

Sklarek is the first African American woman to own an architectural firm, Siegel, Sklarek, Diamond, which boasted a mostly female staff and was once the largest female owned architectural firm in the country. She was also the first black woman to be elected Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1980.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Cornelius Welch; son David Merrick Fairweather; and three grandchildren.