Emily (Parnham) Skeers, competing as Mrs. Olympia, was crowned Mrs. Washington in the United States of America’s Miss Oregon and Washington Pageant on Sunday, Sept. 18, at the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater in Springfield.
Skeers, who served as Miss Lewis County in 2008, is a stay-at-home mom, a singer, a graduate student and a Crohn’s disease patient, according to a news release.
She volunteers as a support group facilitator with the Crohn’s Colitis Foundation and brought in almost $3,000 in donations for the foundation in the past year.
Skeers decided to return to pageantry competitions this year to tell her story of living with Crohn’s disease.
"I want to show women and girls who live with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis that we can dream bigger, that our lives are beautiful and worthy of celebration,” Skeers said.
Skeers will represent Washington state at the United States of America’s Mrs. Pageant in Las Vegas this spring. She will also spend the year promoting the USOA Pageant system and its motto of “Empower women, inspire others and uplift everyone.”
