She may have started out "dirt poor," but Wanda Campbell is a queen today.
On Wednesday, the 77-year-old Jefferson City resident of Villa Marie Nursing Facility was named the regional winner for the Missouri Health Care Association Nursing Home Queen Pageant.
Campbell was given the honor after she and seven other contestants from nursing facilities in a 16-county area answered a variety of questions about their lives and completed interviews during the Wednesday ceremonies at Capital Mall.
Born in Vandalia, Campbell said her family was "dirt poor."
"I weighed a whopping four pounds and was so small my mother carried me on a satin pillow and I slept in a drawer from a dresser," she said. "When I was four, it was just me and my mom, and we lived in a box car that she made into a home. The hobos were my friends and I would leave them leftover hot dogs and buns when we had them."
Campbell said she got her first job when she was nine in order to help the family pay bills.
"I was a beautician's assistant which is a fancy way of saying I cleaned combs, brushes," she said. "I was a master sweeper and an accomplished mopper. This would pay off big time in my later years when I worked my last full-time job at the Truman Building cleaning offices and bathrooms.
"It also helped for my part-time job after retirement, working at Villa Marie as an evening housekeeper and laundry aide. It's funny how life comes around and sometimes repeats itself."
Married three times, Campbell has two daughters and three sons. She was also once voted honor flight queen and got to dance with World War II veterans from all over the world.
"I have accomplished a dream I never thought would come about - I get to lead my own Bible study and prayer group," she said. "This group has grown in size since we started a few months ago and I feel that connecting with people spiritually and praying with them helps a person feel good about themselves."
Campbell now goes on to compete in the statewide pageant in August in Branson.