Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson (born August 26, 1963) is the winner of the 1988

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

Pageant. She is from

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomo ...

, where a street is now named for her.

Biography

On September 19, 1987, Rafko was named as the

Miss America 1988 Miss America 1988, the 61st Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 19, 1987, on NBC Network. Pageant winner Kaye Lani Rae Rafko of Michigan became a registered nurse, and has done many ...

, after winning the

Miss Michigan The Miss Michigan competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Michigan in the Miss America pageant. Michigan has won the Miss America crown on five occasions. Melissa Beyrand of Milford was crowned Miss Michig ...

pageant of 1987. In the Miss America competition her platform included help for

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

services and her talent was a Tahitian dancing performance. 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 Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

, including groups in Malaysia, Paris, Rome, and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Rafko is a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

and is married to Charles (Chuck) Wilson. They have three children: Nick, Alana and Joe. Rafko is the Executive Director of Gabby's Ladder, a

bereavement Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cogniti ...

program for children and their families, an organization she founded after the death of her fourth child. Other family included a younger brother, Nick, who played football at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

from 1989 to 1993, and who was killed in a car accident on June 26, 1994. Rafko is a cohost of ''Only in Monroe'', a monthly

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

program, which was taken over by '' Late Show'' host

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

for the July 2015 episode, with Wilson and rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

appearing as guests.Only In Monroe --- July 2015
/ref> She was also filmed in the 1989 documentary ''

Roger & Me ''Roger & Me'' is a 1989 American documentary film written, produced, directed by, and starring Michael Moore, in his directorial debut. Moore portrays the regional economic impact of General Motors CEO Roger Smith's action of closing several ...

''.

References

External links

Kaye Lani Rae Rafko profile
on MissAmerica.org *

"After the reign"
from ''

The Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issue o ...

'' (2003) 1963 births American nurses American women nurses Living people Miss America 1988 delegates Miss America winners People from Monroe, Michigan Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners 20th-century American people 21st-century American women {{US-med-bio-stub