Jean Bartel,                 born Jean Bartlemeh;
on October 26, 1923 & died March 6, 2011;
    Miss California and Miss America 1943;
         She won the talent and swimsuit awards
at the national pageant. At 5 feet 8 inches tall,
  Bartel was the tallest winner up to that time;

Jean Bartel was the first college student
to win the title of Miss America & after
visiting her sorority sisters in Kappa Kappa Gamma
          around the country, she developed the idea
of awarding scholarships to those who competed;
      The Miss America Organization is now
the world's largest provider of scholarships
                               for women in the world;

Bartel worked for many years on Broadway
and in television, including starring in her own
travel series, It's a Woman's World, as well as
performing for seven months in South America;
She appeared in an episode of The Love Boat
in 1984, w/ Marian McKnight,
                Miss America, 1957;
        Nancy Fleming,
Miss America, 1961;
& Vanessa Williams,
Miss America, 1984.

Bartel died in Brentwood, California,
on March 6, 2011, aged 87; The Miss America
Organization issuing a statement calling her
"one of our most beloved Miss Americas"