Lena Thomas ~ Miss Memphis

Lena Thomas was a beauty pageant winner who appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies

She was born on January 3, 1914 in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Tragically her father, Joseph Thomas, died when she was five years old. In early 1931 Lena won the title of Miss Memphis and competed in the Miss United States pageant. Then the beautiful teenager was hired to appear in the Ziegfeld Follies. She quit the show in July of 1931 so she could marry William Steuer, a twenty-eight year old salesman. The couple moved to New York City and had two children – Joseph and Marilyn. Lena and William were happily married until 1960 when he passed away. A few years later she married Charles Forster in Queens. Sadly he died in 1970 making her a widow for the second time. She spent her later years living in Canada. On May 19, 1985 Lena died at the age of seventy-one.