1944 Miss America who inspired WWII effort dies at 92
Venus Ramey, 19, of Washington, D.C., holds a scepter and wears the crown symbolic of her victory in the Miss America beauty pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 9, 1944. She was entered in the contest as Miss Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/BB)
A former Miss America who helped rally the nation during World War II by selling millions of dollars’ worth of war bonds has died. Venus Ramey was 92.
A funeral home in Science Hill, Kentucky, says the 1944 Miss America died Saturday.
Ramey was the first redhead to win the Miss America title and the first to be photographed in color. She won the crown in Atlantic City, N.J. Sept. 9, 1944.
After winning the crown, she embarked on a vaudeville tour and sold $5 million in war bonds. Her image graced the side of a B-17 that made 68 raids over Germany and other Nazi-occupied nations.
She found renewed fame late in life when she shot out the tires of would-be thieves at her Kentucky farm.
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