Katie R. Stam Irk (born July 9, 1986;

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 ...

. Stam) is an American

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

from

Seymour, Indiana Seymour is a city in Jackson County, Indiana, United States. Its population was 21,569 at the 2020 census. The city is noted for its location at the intersection of two major north–south and east–west railroads, which cross each other in th ...

, who was crowned

Miss America 2009 Miss America 2009, the 82nd Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Saturday, January 24, 2009. The pageant was broadcast live on TLC from the Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Planet Hollywood Resort and ...

Early life and education

Stam was born to Keith and Tracy Stam, both middle school teachers, on July 9, 1986, in southern Indiana. Stam grew up on a dairy farm with her three siblings. She participated in

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...

as a child and showed dairy cattle at the Jackson County Fair. Stam graduated from Seymour High School in

, and later received her bachelor's degree in

communication studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differen ...

from the University of Indianapolis. Stam also interned at the Indianapolis news station, WTHR, in 2007.

Pageantry

Stam began competing in pageants at the age of 15, winning a local title before being named Kentuckiana Teen and advancing and winning her first national pageant. She later won Indiana's Junior Miss in 2005, and was named second runner-up at the 2005 America's Junior Miss competition.

Miss Indiana 2008

In November 2007, Stam won the local Miss Duneland title (

Michigan City, Indiana Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, Indiana Metropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City Combined sta ...

). She competed in the

Miss Indiana The Miss Indiana competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Indiana in the Miss America Pageant. Elizabeth Hallal of Georgetown was crowned Miss Indiana 2022 on June 18, 2022 at STAR Bank Performing Arts Cente ...

pageant for the first time during June 2008, and was crowned Miss Indiana. For her state talent she performed "Art Is Calling Me."

Miss America 2009

''Miss America: Countdown to the Crown''

On this

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an As ...

reality series, viewers followed the 52

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 ...

contestants vying for the

crown. Viewers then had the opportunity to vote online for a contestant to help them earn a "Golden Sash", signifying a secured spot in the top 15. Stam was the first to receive a "Golden Sash" during the first episode.

Preliminary competition

In the week prior to the televised pageant Stam won a preliminary swimsuit award. Additionally, the three previous Miss Americas, Miss America 2006,

Jennifer Berry Jennifer Berry-Gooden (born July 18, 1983) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America on January 21, 2006. A resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the time of her investment to sovereignty of beauty, she became the fifth Mi ...

, Miss America 2007,

Lauren Nelson Lauren Paige Nelson (born November 26, 1986) is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma who holds the Miss America 2007 title. Nelson is the second consecutive Miss America and sixth in the history of Miss America to hail from this state. Early l ...

, and Miss America 2008,

Kirsten Haglund Kirsten Iora Müller-Daubermann (née Haglund; born September 14, 1988) is a public speaker, eating disorder awareness activist, commentator, and president of the Kirsten Haglund Foundation. She served as Miss America 2008. Education At age 12, ...

, had predicted prior to the pageant that Stam would win the Miss America crown. Katie Stam autograph signing

Miss America telecast

The

pageant was broadcast live on

from the

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino Planet Hollywood Las Vegas (formerly the Aladdin) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. The property was previously the site of an earlier resort known ...

in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 24, 2009. For her talent, Stam sang " Via Dolorosa" despite suffering from a throat infection. At the conclusion of the telecast, Stam beat out first runner-up Miss Georgia 2008, Chastity Hardman, for the title of Miss America 2009 and was crowned by Miss America 2008,

. With this win she became the first Miss Indiana to claim the Miss America title. Along with the title of Miss America, she won a $50,000 scholarship. In interviews held after her winning the Miss America crown, Stam expressed interest in completing her bachelor's degree in communication at the University of Indianapolis and seeking a career as a television news reporter and anchor after her reign.

Miss America role

Her platform was "Passion for Service: Promoting Community Service and Involvement." As Miss America, Stam traveled approximately 20,000 miles each month promoting and speaking on her platform of community service and acted as the official National Goodwill Ambassador for the Children's Miracle Network. On Thanksgiving Day 2009, Stam served food at the New York Rescue Mission, and also appeared on a float in the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

, the first Miss America to do so in nearly a decade.Olaksy, Marvin. "Serving with Miss America". ''WORLD''. 19 December 2009. p. 88. Stam met President Obama through a joint meeting with the Children's Miracle Network Hospital Champions at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Personal life

In January 2010, Stam's boyfriend, Brian Irk, proposed to her. They married in July 2010. Katie Stam Irk gave birth to daughter, Charlotte Bell, in August 2013, a second daughter named Rose Lee Esther was born in May 2015. On October 31, 2016, she gave birth to a son, whose name was determined by the outcome of the 2016

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Stam Irk's husband is a

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

fan. So when the couple found out she was pregnant, they decided that if the

won the World Series, their son would be named

Wrigley Wrigley may refer to: * Wrigley Company, a chewing gum manufacturer owned by Mars, Incorporated * EG Wrigley and Company, a British manufacturer of cars, car components and mechanical parts * Wrigley (surname), a list of people with the name * W ...

. If the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

won, then he would be named Oliver. Their son remained unnamed for three days, until the Cubs beat the Indians in Game 7 on November 3, 2016, and he was given the name Wrigley Oliver.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stam, Katie 1986 births American beauty pageant winners Living people Miss America 2009 delegates Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America winners People from Seymour, Indiana University of Indianapolis alumni