Bette Cooper was 1937's Miss America

Miss America

The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...

. She was born in Hackettstown, New Jersey

Hackettstown, New Jersey

Hackettstown is a town in Warren County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 9,724. The town is located in the eastern most region of the Lehigh Valley....

.

Cooper, who had earlier won the Miss Bertrand Island

Bertrand Island, New Jersey

Bertrand Island, New Jersey, is a small peninsula in Lake Hopatcong, part of the community of Mount Arlington. It is best known as the former site of the Bertrand Island Amusement Park which existed from 1928 to 1983, as well as being the place of origin for Bette Cooper, Miss America 1937.Prior...

 title, reportedly does not speak of her involvement with Miss America.

Cooper attended Centenary Junior College (now Centenary College of New Jersey

Centenary College of New Jersey

Centenary College was founded in 1867 by the Newark Conference of the United Methodist Church. Centenary has evolved from a coeducational preparatory school to a girls' preparatory school , to a Junior college for women , to a four-year women's college , to a coeducational...

) in Hackettstown, where she was a member of the Delta Sigma Sigma sorority and graduated in 1938 at ceremonies attended by Governor of New Jersey

Governor of New Jersey

The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...

 A. Harry Moore

A. Harry Moore

Arthur Harry Moore was a Democrat who was the 39th Governors of New Jersey, serving three terms between 1926 and 1941. He was the longest-serving New Jersey Governor in the 20th century and the only New Jersey Governor elected to serve three separate non-consecutive terms...

.

She is currently the earliest Miss America

Miss America

The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...

awardee/title holder still alive.

She has two children, Cheryl and Gregory, as well as four grandchildren, Adriane, Derek, Noelle, and Sarah.