By Hank Nuwer
The year 1963 proved magical for an 18-year-old Alaska girl with her heart set on competing in a number of top beauty pageants.
She was Nina Whaley, the daughter of well-known Alaska bush pilot and photographer who also lobbied to institute the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics and who became the Alaska Visitor Association’s first director.
Nina was born in Nome and resided there until age five when she moved to Fairbanks with her parents and two brothers.
From the start she demonstrated a talent for dancing and entertaining. She appeared as a youngster in Fairbanks in community events such as Tots in Toyland and at the International Banquet.
As a teenager she snatched the lead role in The Petrified Forest, a University of Alaska production, and then won a leading role singing and dancing in the musical comedy The Fantasticks.
“I don’t want to make the stage or show business a career,” she told the Fairbanks News-Miner. “I just want to enjoy participating while I’m young—it’s so much fun.”
Her first coup came on March 16, 1963, when the tall, dark-haired competitor walked away with the crown as the new reining Miss Fairbanks. This automatically made her queen of the Winter Carnival in Fairbanks. The competition required contestants to model, dance and sing, all her strengths.
Nina chose an energetic Spanish flamenco for her dance routine in front of an audience of 800 attending.
Celebrating onstage with Nina was Lynn Chambers who won the top award as Miss Golden Heart City.
Nina went ahead next to compete in the Miss America contest on March 23, 1963.
Her fellow contestants were Kathy Eckroate from Anchorage, Barbara Robinson of Ft. Greely, Bridgette Coffman from Delta Junction, and Betsy Kalen from Skagway.
After Nina won this event and became Miss Alaska for 1963, she gave a statement to the Tundra Times.
“In this land of my birth, I have been blessed by being a part of all this—a land where friends and friendliness are real and not a phrase, where work is a challenge to be enjoyed, not shunned, where resourcefulness is the rule and not the exception, where honesty is practiced, and not just preached.”
Finally, Nina traveled to Miami to compete for Miss Universe. There she faced stiff competition. Actor Peter Sellers chose her as one of seven women he would like to appear in a future movie of his. Hosts for the event were Arelene Francis and John Charles Daly.
This time, however, the top U.S. contestant was Marite Ozers of Chicago. The winner of Miss Universe was Brazil’s Ieda Maria Vargas.
Nina traveled widely that year while enjoying the title of Miss Alaska. Her performances and appearances included Mexico and South America.
Nina Whaley became a flight attendant and married Chris von Imhof in 1967. She supported Imhof in his career as he became a leader in the state’s hospitality businesses, most notably as vice president and general manager of Alyeska Resort.
Sadly, she died at age 58 of cancer in 2002.
“While her life was all too brief, Nina von Imhof drew on a pioneer Alaska heritage to enrich in vibrant and special ways what this state has become today,” noted the Anchorage Daily News in a tribute dated August 10, 2002.
Hank Nuwer teaches journalism as an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
First Published in the Cordova Times