BeBe Shopp

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|name = BeBe Shopp

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|birth_name = Beatrice Bella Shopp

|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1930|8|17|mf=yes}}

|birth_place = Hopkins, Minnesota, U.S.

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|alma_mater = Manhattan School of Music

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|title = Miss Minnesota 1948
Miss America 1948

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|predecessor =Barbara Jo Walker

|successor = Jacque Mercer

|spouse = {{marriage|Bayard D. Waring|1954|2022|end=died}}{{cite news |title=Bayard David Waring |url=https://obituaries.gloucestertimes.com/obituary/bayard-waring-1084829407 |work=Gloucester Times |date=April 4, 2022}}

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Beatrice Bella "BeBe" Shopp (born August 17, 1930), from Hopkins, Minnesota, was Miss America in 1948.{{cite news |newspaper=The Miami News |date=1949-09-01 |title=Bebe Back from Europe, Saw Beauties-All Over |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BiYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9ekFAAAAIBAJ&dq=bebe%20shopp&pg=4708%2C142825 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Post-Pageant Career

After winning Miss America 1948, Shopp used her pageant scholarship to attend the Manhattan School of Music. She specialized in the vibraharp, and graduated with a degree in percussion in 1952. She sang with Share the Music and the Cape Ann Symphony Chorus. She was active in community affairs, and headed the board of directors for Gloucester Stage Company.Hendrickson, Dyke. "Bruins Prove to Quick for Thatcher Island Fans." June 18, 2011. Gloucester Times. Retrieved July 5, 2011: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1625120545/Bruins-prove-too-quick--Thacher-Island-fans

Near the end of her Miss America reign while traveling in France, Shopp was asked about women wearing two-piece bathing suits to which she replied, 'I don't approve of Bikini suits for American girls...The French girls can wear them if they want to, but I still don't approve of them on American girls.'"Retrieved July 5, 2011: http://www.bikiniview.com/history.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709154646/http://www.bikiniview.com/history.html |date=2011-07-09 }}

Personal life

Shopp married Korean War navigator Lt. Bayard D. Waring in 1954 and later had four daughters.{{Cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/first-miss-america-from-minnesota-now-87-looks-back-on-the-trials-of-instant-celebrity/466149193/|title=First Miss America from Minnesota, now 87, looks back on the trials of instant celebrity|work=Star Tribune|access-date=2018-09-22}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.startribune.com/first-miss-america-from-minnesota-now-87-looks-back-on-the-trials-of-instant-celebrity/466149193/|title = First Miss America from Minnesota, now 87, looks back on the trials of instant celebrity|website = Star Tribune| date=24 December 2017 }} As of 2000, she lives in Rockport, Massachusetts and is known by her married name Beatrice "Bea" Waring. She was a lay minister in the Episcopal Church and a TV spokeswoman for an electric scooter company.{{cite web|first1=Michelle |last1=Tauber |first2=Mike |last2=Neill |first3=Lisa |last3=Russell |first4=Joanne|last4=Fowler |first5=Julie |last5=Dam |first6=Alex |last6=Tresniowski |first7=Samantha |last7=Miller |first8=Steve |last8=Dougherty |first9=Ting |last9=Yu |title= American Beauties: 80 Years |work= People |url=https://people.com/archive/american-beauties-80-years-vol-54-no-16/ |date=October 16, 2000}} As of January 2025, Shopp is the earliest living former Miss America.