Maria Fletcher

Maria Fletcher
Born	June 23, 1942 Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Occupation	Entertainment
Title	Miss Asheville 1961 Miss North Carolina 1961, Miss America 1962
Predecessor	Nancy Fleming
Successor	Jacquelyn Mayer

Maria Beale Fletcher (born June 23, 1942) was Miss America 1962.

Biography

Fletcher was born to Charles "Beale" and Margaret Gatley Fletcher, who were the founders of the Asheville-area Fletcher School of Dance and the Land of the Sky Civic Ballet. She has one brother, Walter, and two sisters, Margaret and Bonnie.^[1][2] She is from Asheville, North Carolina, and was a graduate of A.C. Reynolds High School. She worked as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette prior to winning the crown.^[3]

She was the Miss America Preliminary Competition swimsuit winner, and her overseas tour included visits to 31 Army hospitals and Servicemen's Clubs. During the late 1960s, Fletcher served as co-host of The Noon Show on Nashville, Tennessee, television station WSM. She remains to date the only Miss North Carolina to be crowned Miss America. She currently resides in Las Vegas, NV.

References

1. "North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000". Ancestry.com.
2. "Oral History Register for Beale Fletcher, 1914-1994 and Peggy Fletcher". University of North Carolina at Asheville.
3. "Miss America History 1962". Archived from the original on 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2006-12-31.