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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992                   TAG: 9202160186
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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MADONNA ECHOLS, EX-BEAUTY QUEEN, DIES IN MARION

Nearly a half-century has passed since Madonna Smith Echols reigned as Miss Kentucky and was a finalist in the Miss America pageant.

Echols, who later gained renown as a cook, author and civic leader in Smyth County, died Friday at her home in Marion.

Reared in Jenkins, Ky., Echols maintained her interest in the Miss America pageant long after she appeared on the stage in Atlantic City in 1944. An honorary Kentucky colonel, she continued to correspond with other Miss Kentucky winners throughout the United States.

Married for 45 years to W. Gordon Echols Jr., an architect, she was co-manager of his firm of Echols, Sparger and Associates at Marion.

She was the author of two cookbooks that were sold across the United States: "The Crowning Recipes of Kentucky" and "Christmas with Madonna."

Echols, who played in bridge competitions, was spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society of Smyth County, a founder of the Community Concert Series and active in the PTA.

Besides her husband, she is survived by four children, William Douglas Echols, Washington, D.C.; David Gordon Echols, Knoxville, Tenn.; Charles Donley Echols, Indianapolis, Ind., and Madonna Hoecker, Springfield; a brother and a sister.

Funeral arrangements were not released.

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