Kaye Lani Rae Rafko

Kaye Lani Rae Rafko
Beauty pageant titleholder

Born	Kaye Lani Rae Rafko August 26, 1963 (1963-08-26) (age 48) Monroe, Michigan, United States
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)^[1]
Weight	131 lb (59 kg)^[1]
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Green
Title(s)	Miss Monroe County 1987 Miss Michigan 1987 Miss America 1988
Major competition(s)	Miss America 1988 (winner)

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.

On September 19, 1987, Rafko was named as the Miss America 1988, after winning the Miss Michigan pageant of 1987. 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, with whom she has three children. She is the president of Gabby’s Ladder, a bereavement program for children and their families, an organisation she founded after the death of her fourth child.^[2] 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.

In the Miss America competition her platform included help for hospice services and her talent was a Tahitian dancing performance.

Trivia

Rafko is 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall.
She makes a brief appearance in the 1989 documentary film Roger & Me, by Michael Moore. In the film, Moore questions Rafko during her appearance in a parade in Flint, Michigan.
Kaye Lani's children names are Nick, Alana and Joe.

References

^ ^a ^b "Miss America 1988". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/sfeature/pop_1988.html. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
^ Kaye Lani Rae Rafko at the Internet Movie Database

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)

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)

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)

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)

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Persondata
Name	Rafko, Kaye Lani Rae
Alternative names	Rafko Wilson, Kaye Lani Rae
Short description
Date of birth	August 26, 1963
Place of birth	Monroe, Michigan, United States
Date of death
Place of death