Is a registered nurse. She has been a bold advocate for nursing and
hospice programs.
Founder and president Gabby's Ladder, a bereavement organization for children, after losing her fourth child, Gabriel, shortly after his birth in 2002.
Her husband is a computer programmer, whom she met at a strawberry-picking patch.
Children: Nicholas, Alana, and Joseph.
Resides in Monroe, Michigan, where she works as an Oncology nurse, and still accepts speaking engagements around the world as Miss America 1988. (2007)