Miss USA 1961

Miss USA 1961 was the tenth Miss USA pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida on July 13, 1961.

Miss USA 1961
Sharon Brown
Date	July 13, 1961
Venue	Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida
Entrants	43
Placements	15
Withdrawals	Colorado Hawaii Minnesota Montana North Dakota Oklahoma Oregon Washington
Winner	Sharon Brown Louisiana
← 1960 1962 →

At the end of the event, Linda Bement of Utah crowned Sharon Brown of Louisiana as Miss USA 1961.^[1][2] It was the second victory of Louisiana in the pageant's history. Brown later competed at Miss Universe and was named as fourth runner-up to eventual winner, Marlene Schmidt.^[3]

Contestants from forty-two states and the District of Columbia competed in this pageant.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss USA 1961	Louisiana – Sharon Brown[1]
1st runner-up	California – Pamela Stettler[1]
2nd runner-up	Nevada – Karen Weller[1]
3rd runner-up	New York – Alexa Currey[1]
4th runner-up	Alabama – Suellen Robinson[1]
Top 15	Connecticut – Florence Mayette[4] Kentucky – Marcia Chumbler[4] Massachusetts – Elaine Cusick[4] Michigan – Patricia Squires[4] Mississippi – Marlene Britsch[4] Nebraska – Gail Weinstock[4] New Jersey – Diane Giersch[4] Rhode Island – Joan Zeller[4] Utah – Janet Hawley[4] West Virginia – Kathy McManaway[4]

Contestants

Forty-three contestants competed for the title.

State/District	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown	Notes
Alabama	Suellen Robinson[5]	20	Fairfax
Alaska	Judy Onstad[6]	21	Fairbanks
Arizona	Shyrle Owens	18	Phoenix
Arkansas	Mickey Lambert[7]	20	El Dorado
California	Pamela Ray Stettler[8]	18	San Rafael
Connecticut	Florence Mayette[9]	20	Hartford
Delaware	Nina Lou Ringler[10]	18	Selbyville
District of Columbia	Patricia Brunette	–	Washington, D.C.
Florida	Peggy DeFreitas[11]	22	Miami
Georgia	Patsy Giddens[12]	–	–
Idaho	Delcene Kay Rossiter[13]	20	Pocatello
Illinois	Dianne Duffey[14]	19	Elmhurst
Indiana	Janice Kay Oliver[15]	18	Indianapolis
Iowa	Deanne Ostermann[16]	19	Ocheyedan
Kansas	Dixie Lee Cook[17]	22	Topeka
Kentucky	Marcia Gale Chumbler	18	Mayfield
Louisiana	Sharon Rene Brown	18	Minden	4th runner-up at Miss Universe 1961[3]
Maine	Barbara Ann Dyer	–	Dexter
Maryland	Gail Baxter	–	High Point
Massachusetts	Elaine Cusick	18	Boston
Michigan	Patricia Squires[18]	20	Dearborn
Mississippi	Marlene Britsch	21	Clermont Harbour
Missouri	Joan Roberts	19	Richmond Heights
Nebraska	Gail L. Weinstock[19]	20	Omaha
Nevada	Karen Weller	18	Las Vegas
New Hampshire	Dianne Ellen Lipson	–	–
New Jersey	Diane C. Giersch[20]	19	Red Bank
New Mexico	Georgi Edwards[21]	18	Albuquerque
New York	Alexa Currey[22]	22	New York City	Replaced Marcia Banks as Miss New York USA
North Carolina	Marie Clyburn	20	Charlotte
Ohio	Alice Lou Engleman	23	Ashtabula
Pennsylvania	Gayle Nelson	19	Chester
Rhode Island	Joan Marie Zeller	23	Riverside
South Carolina	Yvonne Quick[23]	21	Bennettsville
South Dakota	Sharon Hoffman[24]	19	Harrisburg
Tennessee	Anita Atkins	25	Memphis
Texas	Sheila Wade[25]	18	Dallas
Utah	Janet Marie Hawley[26]	25	Salt Lake City
Vermont	Susan Nielson	–	Poultney
Virginia	Bonnie Jones[27]	18	Norfolk
West Virginia	Kathy McManaway	20	Princeton
Wisconsin	Karen Reisweber[28]	21	Milwaukee
Wyoming	Judy Larae Walton	–	Cokeville

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant