Peony Pageant Queen Jubilee year by year

VW independent staff

50 years of the Peony Queen Pagaent – the Golden Jubilee – was celebrated Friday night at LifeHouse Church. Eight area high school senior girls competed for the coveted title and it wasn’t an easy decision for the judges. In the end, Avery Altenburger, a senior at Delphos St. John’s High School was chosen as Queen Jubilee 50 (see story here).

The first Peony Queen was crowned in 1932 and a new one was crowned each year until 1941. After a hiatus, the pageant returned in 1955 and continued for five more years, then came to a halt until it was renewed in 1992. Since then, a new peony queen has been crowned each year. Here is a complete least of queens, year-by-year.

1932: Rheba Dougal Campbell

1933: Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Sampsell

1934: Thelmas Scheidt Vincent

1935: Leona Mae Moser Hunt

1936: Grayce Reed

1937: Jill Clare King-Smith

1938: Betty Althoen Tavis

1939: Betty Joan Jones Shellhaas

1940: Jeanne Lewis Wise

1941: Genevieve Wendel Cecka

1955: Janice Lynne Gardner Nott

1956: Janies Beatty Gehres

1957: Janice Prior Dugan

1959: Sara Drury Empry-Cantrell

1960: Sally Ann DeMoss Snyder

1992: Karen Schumm Ringwald

1993: Tonya Summersett Powers

1994: Michelle Calvelage Kortokrax

1995: Carrie Beard Anspach

1996: Denise Buettner Lucas

1997: Amy Laukhuf Heilshorn

1998: Amber Marie McCoy Kreischer

1999: Julie Perkins Emerine

2000: Natalie Taylor

2001: Breena Treece

2002: Jenna Gruden Missler

2003: Sarah Rolsten Worden

2004: Sarah Giffin Naas

2005: Amanda Keltner

2006: DeAnna Kruger Miller

2007: Hanna Fort Neely

2008: Heather Farr Edwards

2009: Alyssa Evans

2010: Ayla Eley Myers

2011: Mari Young

2012: Alex Burchfield Lickenbrock

2013: Jorden Rex Moore

2014: Chelsea Hancock Cox

2015: Schlylar Miller Bradford

2016: Ashton Bowersock

2017: Katlyn Wendel

2018: Madison Pugh

2019: Michaella Johnson Owen

2020: Jill Gemmer

2021: Remi Fokine

2022: Kayla Krites

2023: Mackenzie Jones

2024: Claire Keysor

2025: Avery Altenburger