A cheering crowd of friends and fans of Miss Tennessee Stefanie Wittler was waiting at Lovell Field on Sunday night to welcome home the Soddy-Daisy resident after her memorable run for the title of 2010 Miss America.
Miss Wittler placed second runner-up to Miss America, which was won by Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron. The daughter of Steve and Kim Wittler was the highest-placing semifinalist who did not win a preliminary competition.
“I thought when I left that I’d be disappointed if I didn’t win,” Miss Wittler said. “But when they called me as second runner-up, I was almost as happy as if I’d won. God has another plan for me, and I’m excited to see what that is.”
Miss Wittler recalled watching the pageant as a little girl and said it felt “surreal to be the girl on the stage.”
With the pageant behind her, the beauty queen said she indulged in a bag of M&Ms on the flight home Sunday.
“I’m going to get a pedicure and relax my feet from wearing 4-inch heels all day every day,” she said, laughing. “We put in long days. We had to be up at 5 a.m. and some nights didn’t get to bed until 2 a.m.”
A contingent of about 50 Tennessseans flew to Las Vegas to support Miss Wittler. One who couldn’t be there was her boyfriend, Army Lt. Kevin Beavers, who deployed to Iraq the same day she departed for Las Vegas.
Miss Wittler said the Army arranged for him to view the televised pageant.
“He and his platoon sat down with their M-16s and watched the entire pageant,” she said. “He was so excited and sent me e-mails throughout the show, which I got to read afterward. We were both in a desert living out our dreams. He was defending the country that I was competing for the title of.”
Among those welcoming the beauty queen home were several members of the Soddy-Daisy Junior Miss program. That was Miss Wittler’s first title, which she won in 2005.
Shirley Baugh and daughter-in-law Amanda Baugh were among them.
The younger Miss Baugh, choreographer of the Soddy-Daisy Junior Miss program, said watching Miss Wittler on TV Saturday was so emotional she cried.
“I thought she was awesome. She looked beautiful,” she said.
Carol Pierce, Soddy-Daisy Junior Miss board of directors chairman, said, “I saw many of the same qualities in Stefanie Saturday night that I saw when she was Junior Miss, just to another level. She is the same sweet girl she was in 2005.”
Steve Wittler said watching his daughter on the Miss America stage was very emotional for him and his wife, Kim. Cameras flashed on the couple following Miss Wittler’s talent presentation as both shed tears of joy.
“Very few dads get to see their daughter on the Miss America stage. That was the pinnacle of everything she had worked for. She’d worked really hard to get there,” he said.
Miss Wittler said she will use her $30,000 scholarship prize to fund her studies for an MBA degree from UTC.