Beauties in heaven

On Nov. 1, 2010, Funfare published “The beauty queens up there” and on Nov. 1, 2011, “A beauty-ful reunion up there,” prepared by “other beauty expert” Celso de Guzman Caparas.  

In commemoration of All Souls Day (today), Funfare remembers (and prays for) some beauty queens who have gone ahead. The compilation was done also with the help of Celso.

Homegrown beauty queens

1945 Miss America Bess Myerson.

• 1967 Miss R.P. Maita Gomez, 64, of heart attack, on July 12, 2012. Maita competed in the 17th Miss World pageant in London on Nov. 16, 1967 won by Peru’s Madeleine Hartog-Bel.

• 2012 Mutya ng Pilipinas Tourism/2012 Miss Tourism International Rizzini Alexis Gomez, 25, of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the lung on Oct. 13, 2015. She bested 55 other beauties worldwide in Kuala Lumpur. Gomez was a registered nurse. 

• 2009 La Bulakenya Mary Christine Balagtas, 23, of gunshot wounds on April 5, 2017.

1951 Miss America Yolande Betbeze.

• 2011 Miss Gensan first runner-up Ayana Grico, 23, of injuries from falling rocks while taking pictures at the Seven Falls in Lake Sebu on June 4, 2014. She joined the blind audition of The Voice of the Philippines Season 1 in 2013.

• 2015 Miss Dapitan Mary Antoniette Acedo of Roxas, Zamboanga del Norte, 19, of slimming pills overdose that led to multi-organ failure on July 17, 2015, six days before the coronation night of Miss Dapitan. The organizers with the concurrence of other contestants, decided to bestow the title to Acedo as a tribute to her. 

Foreign beauty queens

1959 Miss America Mary Ann Mobley.

• 1945 Miss America Bess Myerson, 90, of natural causes in Santa Monica, California, on Dec. 14, 2014. She was the first Jewish Miss America and later became a politician, model and actress.

• 1951 Miss America Yolande Betbeze of Alabama, 87, of lung cancer on Feb. 22, 2016. She was an opera singer.

• 1959 Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, 77 of breast cancer in Beverly Hills, California, on Dec. 9, 2014. She became a film and television actress. Mobley received the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year for Get Yourself A College Girl (1964).  In 1965, she starred opposite Elvis Presley in Girl Happy and Harum Scarum. She was also the recipient of the Outstanding Woman of the Year by US First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in 1966.

1967 Miss Universe Sylvia Hitchcock

• 1967 Miss Universe Sylvia Hitchcock of Florida, USA, 69, succumbed to lung cancer on Aug. 16, 2015. Sylvia was crowned in Miami Beach, besting 55 other contestants, and was also named one of the Top 15 Best in Swimsuit. 

• 1974 Miss Universe Amparo Muñoz of Spain, 56, died after a long illness on Feb. 27, 2011. Amparo defeated 64 other beauties at the Folk Arts Theater, Manila, on July 19, 1974. She became a film, television and stage actress.

• 1995 Miss Universe Chelsi Smith of Texas, USA, 45, of liver cancer last Sept. 8. Chelsi won over 81 other delegates in Winhoek, Namibia. She had a brief stint as a film actress, songwriter and recording artist.

1967 Miss R.P. Maita Gomez.

• 1996 Miss Jamaica Universe Trudi Ferguson, 31, of breast cancer on Nov. 10, 2017. She competed in the 45th Miss Universe in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 17, 1996, won by Venezuela’s Alicia Machado.

• 2000 Miss Universe third runner-up Eva Ekvall of Venezuela, 28, of breast cancer on Dec. 17, 2011, in Houston, Texas. She was a television anchor and author.

• 2004 Miss Universe fourth runner-up Monica Spear of Venezuela, 29, and her husband Thomas Berry were murdered by robbers on a highway near Puerto Cabello on Jan. 6, 2014. Their five-year-old daughter survived the deadly attack. Spear was a popular telenovela actress.

1974 Miss Universe Amparo Muñoz.

• 2011 Miss Jamaica Universe Shakira Martin, 30, complications from sickle cell disease on Aug. 3, 2016. She competed in the 60th Miss Universe in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 12, 2011, won by Angola’s Leila Lopes; Philippine bet Shamcey Supsup was third runner-up. She was a pre-school teacher and professional model.

• 2013 Miss Austria World Ena Kadic, 26, of multiple injuries sustained after falling down in a mountain while jogging in her home state Tyrol on Oct. 19, 2015.  She competed in the 63rd Miss World in Bali, Indonesia, on Sept. 28, 2013 where our very own Megan Young was crowned Miss World.

• 2014 Miss Honduras World Maria José Alvarado, 19, of gunshot wounds after attending a party in Santa Barbara on Nov. 13, 2014. She was supposed to travel to London six days after, on Nov. 19, 2014, for the 64th Miss World pageant.

1995 Miss Universe Chelsi Smith.

• 1973 Miss Venezuela finalist Damarys Ruiz, 68, of natural causes on May 9, 2015.  Ruiz had law degree and became a professional model. According to news reports, her body was found in a park in Caracas after being homeless for 15 years.

• 1992 Miss Black South Africa Michelle Molatlou, 44, of cervical cancer on Dec. 19, 2017. She was a television magazine show presenter.

• 1997 Miss Wales/1997 Miss United Kingdom fourth runner-up Melanie Jones-Hughes, 39, of alcohol battle linked to post-natal depression. She was a television actress.

2000 Miss Universe third runner-up Eva Ekvall.

• 2008 Miss Belleza Latina International Margaret Ann Larza, 31, of natural causes on May 30, 2017. She was also 2007 Miss Texas Belleza Latina.

• 2009 Miss Great Britain Sophie Gradon, 32, found dead in her home in Northumberland on June 20, 2018.

• 2012 Miss Thailand World finalist Kanyakorn Supakarnkacharoen, 30, of severe head injuries after plunging from the third floor of a building in Bangkok on Sept. 8, 2018, due to depression.

2004 Miss Universe fourth runner-up Monica Spear.

• 2013 Miss Tourism Carabobo Genesis Carmona, 22, succumbed to gunshot wounds during an anti-government protest in Venezuela on Feb. 19, 2014.

• 2014 Reina de Duran Catherine Cando, 19, of cerebral edema while undergoing abdominal liposuction in a clinic in Guayaquil, Ecuador on Jan. 10, 2015. The surgery was a sponsor’s prize package worth $1,000.

• 2015 Miss Earth Baja California Stephanie Camarena, 26, of multiple injuries as a result of a fiery car crash on Nov. 5, 2017.

2012 Mutya ng Pilipinas Tourism/2012 Miss Tourism International Rizzini Alexis Gomez.

• 2015 Miss Iraq Tara Fares, 22, shot dead in her car in Baghdad last Sept. 27. She was a model and a social media star with nearly three million followers.

• 2016 Miss World Australia finalist Elyse Miller-Kennedy of Queensland, 17, of multiple injuries resulting from a head-on collision in Far North Queensland on Aug. 10, 2016. 

• 2017 Miss Grand Uthai Thani Rattana Ramchatu, of fatal road accident in Bangkok on June 1, 2017, four days after winning the crown.

2013 Miss Austria World Ena Kadic.

• 2018 Miss Gay Queen Alaska Bout (real name Luis Contreras Ponce) was murdered in the municipality of Martinez de la Torre, Mexico, last July 25.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)

2014 Miss Honduras World Maria José Alvarado.