Kathy Tebow

Kathy Tebow Sharp (born 23 June 1957) is from Anchorage, Alaska and competed in the 1977 Miss America Scholarship Pageant.

Early life

Tebow is a 1975 graduate of Dimond High School. She graduated magna cum laude in 1996 from University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor's degree and teaching certificates in Music Education K-12 and Elementary Education K-8. She went on to graduate summa cum laude in 2004 from University of Alaska Southeast with a Masters degree and teaching certificate in Educational Technology K-12. Tebow (Sharp) now teaches school in Wasilla, Alaska, the hometown of famous Miss Alaska runner-up, Sarah Heath Palin (widely known as Governor of Alaska and Vice Presidential running mate of John McCain).

Pageant

Tebow won her first pageant title in March 1976 when she was crowned Miss Anchorage 1976 in her first attempt at the title. Two weeks later she represented Anchorage in the 1976 Miss Alaska Pageant and won the title; reigning during the nation's bicentennial year. An accomplished violinist and member of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Tebow performed a Hungarian folk dance for the Miss Anchorage Pageant talent competition, and a footstomping rendition of Orange Blossom Special for the Miss Alaska Pageant. However, it was Tebow's performance of a classical violin piece at the Miss America 1977 pageant that earned her a respected non-finalist talent award; the first Miss Alaska award at the national pageant in 12 years.

Personal life

While serving as Miss Alaska, Tebow met U. S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Creig Sharp who escorted her to visiting Navy ships as part of her Bicentennial greeting duties. They later became engaged and set a wedding date for a couple weeks following the end of her Miss Alaska reign. Sharp had been transferred with the military to the Lower 48 states and returned to the state to see his fiance finish her duties on the final pageant night. The next morning he left on a Kodiak brown bear hunt and was mauled four days into the trip. The couple were still wed on time two weeks later, although Sharp was released from the hospital on an overnight pass to attend in a wheelchair and underwent many more months of recovery. The harrowing account of the bear mauling was the cover story of Outdoor Life and Alaska, a scary tale in The National Enquirer, and part of several successful books about bears including Alaska Bear Tales by Larry Kanuit; and Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance ^[1]

References

External links

• Miss Alaska official website
• Miss America official profile