Kaye Lani Rae Rafko

Kaye Lani Rae Rafko
Rafko in 2007
Born	(1963-08-26) August 26, 1963 Monroe, Michigan, United States
Occupation	Nurse
Title	Miss Monroe County 1987 Miss Michigan 1987 Miss America 1988
Predecessor	Kellye Cash
Successor	Gretchen Carlson
Spouse(s)	Charles (Chuck) Wilson

Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson (born August 26, 1963) is the winner of the 1988 Miss America Pageant. She is from Monroe, Michigan, where a street is now named for her.

Biography

On September 19, 1987, Rafko was named as the Miss America 1988, after winning the Miss Michigan pageant of 1987. In the Miss America competition her platform included help for hospice services and her talent was a Tahitian dancing performance. Rafko has participated in a number of fundraising activities and has been a vocal advocate for nursing and hospice programs. She has addressed medical professional organizations around the world on the topic of nursing, including groups in Malaysia, Paris, Rome, and Singapore.

Rafko is a registered nurse and is married to Charles (Chuck) Wilson. They have three children: Nick, Alana and Joe. Rafko is the Executive Director of Gabby’s Ladder, a bereavement program for children and their families, an organization she founded after the death of her fourth child.^[1] Other family included a younger brother, Nick, who played football at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1989 to 1993, and who was killed in a car accident on June 26, 1994.

Rafko is a cohost of Only in Monroe, a monthly public-access television program, which was taken over by Late Show host Stephen Colbert for the July 2015 episode, with Wilson and rapper Eminem appearing as guests.^[2] She was also filmed in the 1989 documentary Roger & Me.

References

External links

Kaye Lani Rae Rafko profile on MissAmerica.org
Kaye Lani Rae Rafko at the Internet Movie Database
Former Miss Michigans
"After the reign" from The Toledo Blade (2003)

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Kellye Cash	Miss America 1988	Succeeded by Gretchen Carlson
Preceded by Kelly Garver	Miss Michigan 1987	Succeeded by Melanie Churella

Miss America titleholders (1980–1999)

Cheryl Prewitt (1980) Susan Powell (1981) Elizabeth Ward (1982) Debra Maffett (1983) Vanessa L. Williams/Suzette Charles (1984) Sharlene Wells (1985) Susan Akin (1986) Kellye Cash (1987) Kaye Lani Rae Rafko (1988) Gretchen Carlson (1989) Debbye Turner (1990) Marjorie Judith Vincent (1991) Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (1992) Leanza Cornett (1993) Kimberly Clarice Aiken (1994) Heather Whitestone (1995) Shawntel Smith (1996) Tara Dawn Holland (1997) Katherine Shindle (1998) Nicole Johnson (1999)

Complete list (1921–1939) (1940–1959) (1960–1979) (1980–1999) (2000–2019)

Miss America 1988, state titleholders

MS: Toni Seawright MI: Kaye Lani Rae Rafko OR: Tamara Fazzolari SC: Nancy Humphries

Miss America Delegates of 70 71 74 75 76 77 79 81 88 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Michigan pageant winners

Miss Michigan	Patricia Donnelly (1939) Ann Penelope Marston (1959) Nancy Fleming (1960) Toni Jo Abbenante (1967) Pamela Eldred (1969) Kaye Lani Rae Rafko (1987) Melanie Churella (1987) Kirsten Haglund (2007) Ashlee Baracy (2008) Nicole Blaszczyk (2009) Elizabeth Wertenberger (2011) Emily Kieliszewski (2015)

Miss Michigan USA	Carole Gist (1990) Kenya Moore (1993) Jill Dobson (2000) Kenya Howard (2001) Crystal Hayes (2005) Danelle Gay (2006) Kelly Best (2007) Rima Fakih (2010) Channing Pierce (2011) Rashontae Wawrzyniak (2015) Susie Leica (2016)

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

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