JoAnn Odum Aldrich was born and raised in Huntington and educated at Huntington East High School and Marshall University. While taking lessons at Frances Nestor’s Dance Studio, she entered several local beauty pageants and won her first title at age 16, “Miss Armed Forces.”
When she was 19, she was crowned “Miss USA/World 1961-62” at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She represented the USA in London in the “Miss World” competition, where she placed fifth runner-up. The late Bob Hope was one of her judges.
During her reign as Miss USA, Aldrich was given the “Key to the City of Huntington,” traveled the country and met with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. She helped influence the Miss USA/World pageant directors to move the 1962 and 1963 pageants from New York City to Huntington. As such, many Hollywood stars came to Huntington to participate in the pageants.
Currently, JoAnn Odum Aldrich is a docent at the Huntington Museum of Art and Heritage Farm Museum & Village, and she recently started a Women’s Club in Barboursville. Since 1980, she and her husband have operated a nutritional supplement business in multiple states.
