Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2021
Joleen Marie Benoit was born in February of 1950, daughter of Jerome Leonard Benoit (1921-2012) and Elizabeth “Betty” Scroggins Benoit (1925-2006). She was the third oldest of six children in the family.
The Shakopee Jaycees sponsored her in the pageant, which took place on June 10, 1972. Joleen had just graduated from Shakopee High School in 1972.
Joleen had played guitar for four years and always enjoyed music. She sang in choral and folk groups, according to the June 20, 1973 Shakopee Valley News.
Joleen was also involved in high school productions, including a lead in Guys and Dolls and The King and I.
When she participated in the Shakopee pageant, she sang “Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Roberta Flack.
Patty Kelzer won, but then was named the Queen of the Lakes, and Joleen ended up in Austin, Minnesota, where she sang again, and won the Miss Minnesota pageant.
So, she represented the city of Shakopee in the Miss America Pageant in September in Atlantic City.
Although she did not win, they expressed her hope for a career in entertainment. She added that she hoped she would fulfill her dream of preforming on Broadway or singing with a big band.
On February 3, 1980, she married Michael J. Crosby, also known as Michael Joseph Krzyzaniak. In was not a good marriage, and she later divorced him. He ended up orchestrating a $20 million investment scam, where he persuaded 6,000 people, including veterans, to buy a medallion honoring the people of the Vietnam War. In 1993 he was guilty. He escaped, but finally was found in Florida. He served time in a federal prison, and then was caught again, and at age 64 was sent to prison for 151 months in 2013. He died there.
Joleen, after the pageant, went on a Miss America USO Troops tour, and recorded some songs. A few of them were popular for a time.
“I was a singer in our tour group – played a twelve-string guitar. I went on to perform in Brazil and Japan, and eventually had a number one record in Japan in 1990,” said Joleen Benoit.
Joleen remembered, “Simply happy to connect with others who have experienced the ‘magic’ of this tiny little island dropped in the middle of the most beautiful ocean in the world…the Indian Ocean…!”
In 1982 Jolen was named host of PBS’s Nighttimes Variety and was part of the show’s all female band, “Women Who Cook.” They became quite the rage in the Twin Cities in the early 1980s and she and the other ladies performed a sold-out concert with the band at the historic Guthrie Theater.
She was also an entertainment reporter and co-host of the Good Company variety show at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis from 1989-1991.
In 2000, Joleen also released a holiday album called Another Year.
She has had a very successful music career and currently runs her own production company.
Bibliography
Shakopee Valley News, 20 June 1973.