Miss Alabama 2000, Miss America top 10 finalist Jana Sanderson McEachern dies at 43
Jana Sanderson McEachern, Miss Alabama 2000 and a top 10 finalist in the Miss America pageant, died Friday in Gadsden. She was 43.
McEachern died of cancer, according to a Facebook post by J&D Farms, a wedding venue in Southside which she co-founded.
A graduate of Glencoe High School, McEachern first entered a pageant at 17, she told The Times in a 1999 interview after finishing as first-runner up for Miss Alabama. “I was going to be starting school and Mom thought it would be a good way to get some scholarship money,” she said.
She went on to attend Samford University on a full scholarship, graduating with a degree in communications.
McEachern told The Times in 2000 after returning home from Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the Miss America pageant was held in its heyday, that her experience there was “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” and that hearing her name called for the top 10 and making so many friends were her best memories.
She went on to work as a photographer and marketing specialist with The Chamber of Gadsden & Etowah County, Joe McEachern photography and Auburn University’s School of Aviation, along with J&D Farms.
McEachern continued to follow her love of the arts — she started taking voice lessons in the seventh grade, according to the 1999 interview; her platform for the Miss America contest, Step into the Spotlight, encouraged young people to participate in the performing arts; and her original college major was vocal performance. At Samford, she sang at various events and venues, and she also was active in local theater.
Her obituary from Crestwood Memorial Funeral Home described her as having “the voice of an angel,” with a particular love for praise and worship music. (She attended Church of the Highlands’ Opelika campus.)
Theatre of Gadsden in a Facebook post noted that McEachern “grew up” in the theater, praising her talent and her “kindness and gentle soul.”
The Miss Alabama pageant called McEachern “a highly talented, intelligent, sweet and kind soul,” who “brought warmth into every room and charmed everyone she met," according to another Facebook post.
The J&D Farms post cited her love of CrossFit (she was a certified coach), travel, cooking and spicy foods.
She is survived by her mother, Judy Sitz Smith (Ronnie); grandparents, Tommy Lee and Eloise Sanderson and Ross and Pauline Sitz; siblings, Jill Sanderson (Amber), John Longshore, Margie Longshore, Marcus Longshore; Dr. Andrew Smith (Donna) and Ashley Robinson (Bryan); former husband, Danny McEachern; and her Westie, Winston.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Former Miss Alabama, Miss America finalist McEachern dies
