Heather Renee French Henry (born December 29, 1974) is a

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 ...

title holder, fashion designer, and veterans advocate. She is married to former Kentucky Lieutenant Governor

Steve Henry Steve Henry (born October 8, 1953) is an American politician and orthopedic surgeon who was the 52nd Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky from 1995 through 2003. He twice ran unsuccessfully in statewide elections, finishing third in Democratic primar ...

Biography

Raised in Augusta,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, Heather French Henry graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. She competed in pageants through her teens, including the Miss Ohio pageant. She competed in the Miss Kentucky Pageant four times before winning the title on her fifth attempt in 1999. She won the 2000

pageant in September 1999, the first Kentuckian to do so. Her platform for her reign was raising awareness of homeless veterans; her father was a wounded veteran of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. She received numerous awards for her work with veterans, including Kentuckian of the Year by '' Kentucky Monthly''. On October 27, 2000, she married Kentucky Lieutenant Governor

, 21 years her senior, in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. The wedding led to controversy over state resources being expended as part of the wedding and planning. The Henrys repaid the state $3,200 for services related to their wedding rendered to them by state employees. The couple have two daughters, Harper Renee (born 2001) and Taylor Augusta (born 2003). In October 2003, French Henry struck and subsequently killed Karola Stede, 44, a native of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and mother of four who was crossing against the traffic light in a Louisville intersection. French said that the accident deeply affected her, and she subsequently recounted her story in venues such as ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

''. In November 2007, she was named to Kentucky Governor-elect

Steve Beshear Steven Lynn Beshear (born September 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1980, was the state's 44th Attorn ...

's transition team. On July 1, 2014, Beshear appointed Henry Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. French Henry was the 2019 Democratic nominee for

Secretary of State of Kentucky The secretary of state of Kentucky is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is now an elected office, but was an appointed office prior to 1891. The current secretary of state is Republican Michael Adams, who was ...

. She lost the general election to Michael Adams.

References

External links

Heather French Foundation for Veterans Website

Heather French Henry's Official Website

Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Bio
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Heather French 1974 births Living people Beauty pageants in Kentucky Kentucky Democrats Miss America 2000 delegates Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America winners Miss Kentucky winners People from Louisville, Kentucky People from Maysville, Kentucky Spouses of Kentucky politicians Women in Kentucky politics 20th-century American people Beauty queen-politicians

Biography

See also

References

External links