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Valley woman goes for title of Mrs. America
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Heather Fronk of Austintown is crowned as Mrs. Ohio America on June 11 at the McCoy Theater of Arts in New Albany, near Columbus.
By JoAnn Jones
When Heather Fronk first started dating her husband, Stephen, after meeting him at Youngstown State University, she told him that someday she wanted to compete in a “Mrs.” pageant.
Fast forward a few years: On June 11, Fronk, of Austintown, was crowned the 2016 Mrs. Ohio America at the McCoy Theater of Arts in New Albany, near Columbus.
“Competing has been a great time of self-discovery,” the 34-year-old mother of two said. “It made me look inward and upward. This has helped me to answer the question ‘Why are you the way you are?’”
Fronk competed against 21 women for the title last year, when she was named first runner-up.
“I was so thrilled to be in the top five, but I thought I would be a ‘one and done,’” she said with a smile. “But something in my heart wouldn’t go away.”
“My husband and I talked, and we prayed,” said Fronk, who attends Old North Church in Canfield. “I knew what to expect this year, and I went into the pageant with a great peace.”
Fronk said only 10 women competed this year, but four of the women she met at last year’s competition came to cheer her on.
“The pageant was like a sisterhood,” she said.
She explained that the process is not like the Miss Ohio pageant because there is no local competition. Fronk competed as Mrs. Mahoning County and began the process by filling out the online application form for Mrs. Ohio. She said the competition consisted of a three- and-a-half-minute interview, which is 50 percent of a contestant’s score, and evening gown and swimsuit competitions, which are 25 percent each.
There was no talent competition, she said, but she called the pageant a show because singers and dancers perform in between. Talent would have been no problem for Fronk, however, because the South Carolina native originally came to this area in 2003 to study music education at YSU under the late Bob Fitzer.
“I’m always singing, I always have a song in my head,” she said. “But I started working at Huntington Bank part time while I was at YSU. I love banking so I changed my degree to a liberal arts one in general education with an emphasis on music education.”
Fronk is currently a business client manager at Huntington, working with small businesses in the tri-county area.
She said a little research enabled her to find out how to become a contestant in a pageant for married women.
Yet, Fronk said the Mrs. Ohio pageant isn’t about the contestants.
“It’s not about the hardware, not about the crown,” she said. “It’s about being a voice and advocating for service organizations.”
While at the state pageant, Fronk said the contestants partnered with the local Girl Scouts to work for GRIN (Gahanna Residents in Need). A communitywide, faith-based organization, GRIN helps women, children and families in times of difficulty.
“While we were there, we sorted books and helped with their backpack initiative,” she said. “We did things they don’t have the manpower to do.”
Serving others is important to Fronk, who is involved locally with Junior Achievement, the Rotary, United Way, and the after-school program at the Glenwood Avenue Salvation Army, which she said has been part of her self-discovery.
“You get to know who you are, what gifts you have, and how God can use them,” she said. “I’m helping these 6- to 12-year-old kids at the Salvation Army realize their gifts, too.”
She explained that after their school day, 25 students get educational assistance and participate in arts and crafts as well as physical activity. Most importantly, they get a hot meal at the end of the day, she said.
With tears in her eyes, Fronk talked about getting those children to believe in themselves.
“The children would say ‘I don’t have any gifts, I’m not special,’” she said, “and I realized when gifts are encouraged and sought out, amazing things can happen in our community. But it’s not just our community. At-risk kids are everywhere.”
Volunteering is so important to her that she includes her daughters, Taylor, 14, and Brooklyn, 4, whenever she can.
“I sometimes take Taylor to the Salvation Army, and she is part of the Rotary-sponsored Interact Club at (Austintown) Fitch,” Fronk said. “I took Brooklyn to help with a roadside cleanup when she was just 3.”
Fronk’s husband, Stephen, has been very supportive of his wife’s pageant participation and her “journey of self-discovery” as she calls it.
“I’ve watched her work very hard for almost two years,” he said. “For a year and a half, we’ve been eating healthy and losing weight.”
“She’s been giving back to the service organizations and has grown spiritually,” he added. “We have new friends and a lot of support. We never really saw this outcome.”
The reigning Mrs. Ohio will travel to Las Vegas Aug. 19 to compete in the preliminaries for the Mrs. America pageant against 51 other contestants. The top 15, she said, will be determined by Aug. 25, and the finals will be streamed live on the Mrs. America website (mrsamerica.com) at 1 p.m. Aug. 27. Information on the pageant also is available on the Facebook page Mrs. America Presents.
Until then, Fronk said she’ll be doing a lot of paperwork, working on her sponsorships, and working with pageant coach Teri Jones Grothaus, who was Mrs. Ohio 2013. She’ll also be working on her evening gown and on her state costume – a cardinal – with a designer from Columbus.
“We have sponsors already affiliated with the Mrs. America organization, but we also seek out local sponsors,” she said. “Jackie DeChellis of Bronzing for Health in Poland is already one of my sponsors for Mrs. Ohio and for the year. Limelight Images of Struthers sponsored my photography for the pageant.”
“The pageant was such an incredible moment,” Fronk said. “Everything comes together when your hard work meets God’s timing.”