Heather Renee French Henry (born December 29, 1974) is an American fashion designer, politician, veterans advocate and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America 2000. She is married to former Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry.

Biography

Raised in Augusta,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, 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. The vocalist competed in the Miss Kentucky Pageant four times before winning the state title on her fifth attempt in 1999. In September 1999, Heather won the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

pageant, the first Miss Kentucky to do so. She was the second native of Kentucky to win the Miss America title after Venus Ramey won in 1944, competing as Miss District of Columbia. Heather spent the year as Miss America 2000 promoting the scholarship pageant program and advocated her cause of support of American veterans. Heather's platform for her reign was raising awareness of homeless veterans; her father was a wounded veteran of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. She received numerous awards for her work with veterans, including Kentuckian of the Year by '' Kentucky Monthly''. On October 27, 2000, Heather married Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry, 21 years her senior, in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. 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). While driving in October 2003, French Henry struck and fatally injured Karola Stede, 44, a native of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

''. In November 2007, she was named to Kentucky Governor-elect Steve Beshear's transition team. On July 1, 2014, Beshear appointed Henry Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. She was replaced by Governor Matt Bevin with retired Brigadier General Norman E. Arflack on March 15, 2016, with French Henry subsequently being appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. French Henry was the 2019 Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Kentucky. She lost the general election to Michael Adams. She is a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/top-stories/2019/04/29/candidate-conversations--heather-french-henry-

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 Daughters of the American Revolution people 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 21st-century Kentucky politicians Beauty queen-politicians 21st-century American women politicians

Biography

See also

References

External links