Orange’s Patterson named Mrs. Texas
Robert Hankins, The Record Newspapers
Shannon Schambeau Patterson of Orange, a certified personal trainer and aerobics instructor at Bodyworkz Health Club in Bridge City, was recently crowned Mrs. Texas in Corsicana.
She will compete in the Mrs. America competition at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 31-Sept. 7.
The winner there will compete for the title of Mrs. World – Oct. 3-24 in Korea.
To win Mrs. Texas, Patterson competed against 30 other delegates from the state in interview, swimwear and evening gown events.
As they say in Texas this was not her first rodeo. She was Miss District of Columbia 2005. She competed for the title of Miss America 2006, where she won the Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit Award and was named fourth runner up.
She has been actively involved with the organization as a judge and working with current state titleholders in their preparation for Miss America and helping them develop into confident women.
She is married to John Patterson and is the sister-in-law of Rebecca Patterson, who works with high school students in the nonprofit Scholarship Success program.
John Patterson played professional baseball as a starting pitcher with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers.
Shannon, who’s heard the question a few times as to what John thinks of all this, describes her husband as very involved.
“He’s very supportive, and judges with me,” she said. “Being that I’m a trainer, I’m always working toward the most healthy lifestyle possible, and he being an athlete shares those values and anything that he can do to have a positive impact on it.”
Shannon was sponsored in the Mrs. Texas pageant by local companies Rodan and Fields Skincare (Shannon is an independent consultant), Golden Triangle Industries, Grand Slam Batting Cages and Bodyworkz.
A native of San Antonio, Fla., she holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration from St. Leo University. She was chosen as St. Leo’s Distinguished Alumna for 2008-09 and was the Student Representative Commencement Speaker for the 2005 Graduate Programs. Shannon was a Magna Cum Laude graduate and received the Outstanding Student in Management and Outstanding Student in the School of Business 2002-03 Awards from the University.
Shannon has been a Special Olympics volunteer for more than 18 years and also worked for the International Headquarters in Washington, D.C., as the Manager for Donor Relations. She has volunteered on a local, state and international level. She had the chance to not only meet, but work beside her greatest role model, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
“I moved to D.C. to work with Special Olympics and that’s where I met my husband while he was playing for Washington,” she said. “Eventually we moved to his hometown, which is Orange.”
Shannon has been on missionary trips to the Dominican Republic and Haiti and volunteered with the Jimmy Carter Work Project in Valdosta, Ga. Shannon has helped build more than 20 houses with Habitat for Humanity.
The Mrs. America Pageant celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007. Former Mrs. America winners from Texas include Wendy Lewis (1994), Rhonda McGeeney (1982) and Carol McEwen-Ratcliffe (1980). The Mrs. America Web site is www.mrsamerica.com.
http://www.therecordlive.com/article/Hometown_News/People_and_Places/Oranges_Patterson_named_Mrs_Texas/55927
