Jo Ann Odum was born and raised with her brother, Jim, in Huntington and educated at Huntington East High School and Marshall University. While taking lessons at Frances Nestor's Dance Studio, she entered several local beauty pageants, and won her first title at age 16, “Miss Armed Forces.” When she was 19, Odum was crowned “Miss USA/World 1961-62” at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She represented the USA in London, England, in the “Miss World” competition, where she placed fifth runner-up. The late Bob Hope was one of her judges.
During her reign as Miss USA, she was given the “Keys to the City of Huntington,” traveled the country and met with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. She helped influence the Miss USA/World pageant directors to move the 1962 and 1963 pageants from New York City to Huntington. As such, many Hollywood stars came to Huntington to participate in the pageants.
She and her husband, Jerry Aldrich, raised two sons, Tom and David. David Aldrich, a meteorologist, worked for WSAZ from 1999 to 2001. He learned much of his weather-predicting craft from Tony Cavalier. Currently, Jo Ann is active in her church and is a house-board member of her sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma. She is also a docent at the Huntington Museum of Art and Heritage Farm Museum & Village, and recently started a Women's Club in Barboursville. Since 1980, Jo Ann and her husband have operated a Shaklee nutritional supplement business in multiple states.
