Karen Brucene Smith-Galvan (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Smith; born June 21, 1951) is an American model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World USA 1971 and

Miss International 1974 Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...

Early life

Galvan was born and raised in

Port Lavaca, Texas Port Lavaca () is a city in Calhoun County, Texas, Calhoun County, located in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 12,248 at the 2010 census and 11,557 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Calhoun County and part of the Victoria, Te ...

with parents David Bruce Smith and Belle Dunlap-Smith; and grandmother Adela Dunlap. She grew up with four sisters: Cynthia, Darlene, Carrie, Suzanne; and one brother, Robert Bruce. Her father, David Bruce, named her after him, ''Brucene''. Galvan graduated from Calhoun High School in 1969 and was a former student at Victoria College and a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

in elementary education at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

when she decided to participate in Miss World USA.

Miss World USA 1971

Galvan competed against 47 delegates in her

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's national beauty pageant,

Miss World USA The United States has continuously sent a representative to Miss World since its inception in 1951. The United States has won the Miss World crown three times in 1973, 1990 and 2010. Currently, Miss World America is the official national pageant ...

, held in

Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...

, capturing the crown and the right to represent the United States in

Miss World 1971 Miss World 1971, the 21st edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 10 November 1971 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. 56 contestants competed for the Miss World and Lúcia Petterle from Brazil won the crown of Miss World 1971. She w ...

. After her win,

Calhoun County Calhoun County is the name of several counties in the United States of America named after U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun: * Calhoun County, Alabama * Calhoun County, Arkansas * Calhoun County, Florida * Calhoun County, Georgia * Calhoun Cou ...

honored Galvan with a public reception and proclaimed October 24 as ''Brucene Day''. As the official representative of her

to the

pageant, held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, she was a bookies' favorite and became one of the top 7 finalists, placing sixth overall. After the competition, Galvan joined

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

for his 21st Christmas tour overseas.

Miss International 1974

On October 9, 1974, Galvan represented the United States as Miss American Beauty in the

pageant in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and was crowned the eventual winner of the title, receiving two million yen in first prize money.

Life after Miss International

In January 1975, Galvan was briefly signed by

Wilhelmina Models Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a full service modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, United States. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Founded in 196 ...

, but

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life proved to be overwhelming for her small-town upbringing and she returned to

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

one month later. After crowning

Miss International 1975 Miss International 1975, the 15th Miss International pageant, was held on November 3, 1975, at the Okinawa's Expo Portside Theater in Motobu, Japan. 48 contestants competed for the pageant. Finally, Lidija Manić from Yugoslavia crown as Miss Inte ...

, Galvan stayed for six months in Japan, working as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

and making appearances across the country. Then she returned to the United States and continued her work as a model in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

for three more years. In 1980, Galvan married husband David with whom she has six children, and moved to Helotes, Texas near the

Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Americ ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

to focus on raising a family.

References

External links

Official Miss International website - Past titleholders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Brucene 1951 births Living people People from Port Lavaca, Texas Miss International winners American beauty pageant winners Miss International 1974 delegates Miss World 1971 delegates