THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605080124
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
In 1993, Jill Barnes-Armstrong did well in the Mrs. Virginia-United States pageant. She was runner-up.
This year, the Portsmouth mother of two did herself one better. And as Mrs. Virginia-United States 1996, she says she's looking forward to promoting her home state in the national competition.
She will represent Virginia in the national competition for Mrs. United States on July 25 in Las Vegas.
Barnes-Armstrong, 32, was chosen in a pageant April 27 at Hampton's Ogden Hall.
``I'm really excited about winning the state title and look forward to the nationals,'' she said this week. ``. . . Virginia has so much to offer, and I like to try to promote it.''
Her husband is Mike Armstrong, a narcotics detective with the Portsmouth Police Department. They have two daughters, Taylor, 4, and Meghan, 2.
The new Mrs. Virginia, who formerly worked as a police dispatcher in Portsmouth, said she now concentrates on her responsibilities as a mother, wife and daughter.
She is the daughter of former Portsmouth Mayor Jack P. Barnes and the late Minnie S. Barnes, who adopted her as an infant. In recent years, she said, she also has come to know her birth mother.
Barnes-Armstrong attended Southern Seminary Junior College. She is a member of Monumental United Methodist Church. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Jill Barnes-Armstrong will compete in the national pageant.
by CNB