Catharina Johanna Lodders, now Catharina EvansChubby Checker visits former pastor
Jan 21, 2016, Jean Etsinger, Sarasota Herald-Tribune (born 18 August 1942 in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

) is a Dutch model and beauty queen who won the 1962

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...

contest, representing the Netherlands. Prior to the Miss World contest, she was crowned Miss Holland in May 1962. Winning Miss Holland would therefore give her a chance to be crowned

Miss International 1962 Miss International 1962, the 3rd Miss International pageant, was held on August 18, 1962 at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States. 50 contestants competed for the pageant. Finally, Tania Verstak from Aust ...

in Long Beach, California and to succeed compatriot Stam van Baer. Lodders placed 3rd Runner-Up to eventual winner

Tania Verstak Tania Verstak (born 20 November 1940) is an Australian model and beauty queen who won Miss International 1962. Early life Verstak was born in Tianjin, China, to Russian couple Vladimir and Valentina Verstak. They emigrated to Australia when ...

of Australia. She was then also crowned Miss Benelux, followed by Miss World later that year. She became the second woman (after Corine Rottschafer in 1959) from the Netherlands to win the title. The pageant was held in London. Upon winning the contest, she was quoted as saying "I don't think I'm the most beautiful girl in the world - I am the most beautiful girl here." On 12 December 1963, as a 21-year-old Dutch model and former beauty queen from

, the Netherlands, Lodders accepted the marriage proposal of 22-year-old American singer/songwriter/dancer

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...

. Checker said he met Lodders in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

the prior January. (Checker's song "Loddy Lo", a No. 13 hit in late 1963, was written about her.) They married on 12 April 1964 at Temple Lutheran Church in Pennsauken,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. They later raised their children in Paoli, Pennsylvania. Their first child, Bianca Johanna Evans, was born in Philadelphia on 8 December 1966.AP wire photo (jfu 5-2200-jfu-stass) 1966

References

External links

Miss Holland Now official website
1942 births Living people Miss World winners Miss World 1962 delegates Dutch beauty pageant winners Miss International 1962 delegates Dutch emigrants to the United States People from Haarlem People from Paoli, Pennsylvania {{netherlands-bio-stub