Mrs. Senior America Stresses Inner Beauty

Jane Lindsey has been on a whirlwind speaking tour ever since she won the recent Ms. Senior America contest, eager to tell listeners about the inner beauty of women.

Especially mature women.

“The seniors of America are so wonderful,” she said. “They are the nation’s most valuable treasure and people don’t know that. Now I have the opportunity to talk about them.”

But Lindsey, 68, admits that when she talks about her philosophy of life, some people tend to look at her “from the corner of their eye,” not quite sure she means it.

“That’s a challenge for me,” said the Santa Ana grandmother of three who believes there is good in everyone and in every day. “I go up and talk to them.”

And that chat, she says, usually convinces them that her lifelong positive attitude isn’t something she acquired after winning the Ms. Senior America contest.

At the competition with 29 other entrants, Lindsey told judges that five action words describe her philosophy of life--looking, listening, learning, loving and living.

She bemoaned the fact she only had 45 seconds to explain her philosophy that took “years of experience and living to acquire.”

While appearance was not a major factor considered by the judges--most of the judging had to do with homemaking skills--one part of the pageant was an evening gown competition.

“To me, beauty is as beauty does,” she said, a saying she attributes to her mother. “I’ve always felt there was more to just being pretty. It’s what you do and how you care about others that counts most.”

Since the contest, the mother of three, including twins, has been speaking to groups in and around Orange County.

“There are many people out there that feel like I do,” said the one-time leader of an all-female orchestra and former member of the NBC Studio Orchestra, as a violinist. “I feel that my life is devoted to doing for others.”

Her lineup of activities verifies that.

She holds membership in the both the national and state Assn. of Parliamentarians, Friends of Music, Federated Women’s Club, Welcomers Club of Garden Grove, Auxiliary of California Lutheran Homes, Foundation of the American College of Health Care Administrators and Church Women United.

While the University of Omaha (now University of Nebraska) graduate doesn’t particularly approve of beauty contests, she notes that the Miss America contest “has gone beyond outer beauty. Outer beauty is just not enough.”

While she entered and won a pageant in her college days and was a runner-up in the Mrs. California Pageant 35 years ago, “I never thought of entering another one until a friend encouraged me to try for the Ms. California contest,” she said.

Winning that led to the national title.

Lindsey said she didn’t feel she would win after eyeing the competition. “What I was doing was trying to have a little fun. I wasn’t worried about winning. My husband (Doug) did the worrying for us.”

She did get some tips from daughter Karen Lindsey Jackson, 45, of Santa Ana, who has been winner of a number of pageants. “She is a very beautiful woman,” Lindsey said.

The grandmother of three exercises 30 minutes a day to keep trim but doesn’t believe she will enter other pageants.

“I have the opportunity to encourage others to reach their own potential,” she said. “That’s my current goal.”