Jonna Fitzgerald

Miss Texas 1985 Jonna Fitzgerald thrilled audiences from coast to coast with her rendition of the “Orange Blossom Special” prior to being named Preliminary Talent Winner and 2nd Runner Up to Miss America 1986.

Jonna was a featured entertainer for the 1985 Vice-Presidential Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. with Johnnie High’s Country Music Revue. Through the years she has shared the stage with artists such as Janie Fricke, Jerry Clower, Frenchie Burke, Mason Dixon, Larry Gatlin, Shoji Tabuchi, Johnnie Gimble, and Charlie Daniels. The Country Music Revue Association named her “Instrumentalist of the Year” in 1989.

The daughter of Eddie Ruth Fitzgerald and the late Truman “Blue” Fitzgerald of Flint, Texas, Jonna is an honor graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington, and also attended Texas Christian University. She was inducted into the Alpha Chi National Honor Society at U.T.A., included in the 1988 Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, and named Most Outstanding Student in Radio/TV at U.T.A.

Jonna was senior News Anchor and Community Relations Coordinator for KETK-NBC56 News in Tyler, Texas, anchoring the evening newscasts and hosting the Children’s Miracle Network Celebration each year before leaving the news desk in December 2004. Jonna provided the first glimpse of a grown-up “Baby Jessica” to the world through an exclusive television interview with Jessica McClure in 2003. Jonna is now Congressional District Director for U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

She is an active member of Therapet Animal Assisted Therapy Foundation, Tyler Rotary Club, East Texas Pineywoods Cattlewomen Association, the American Quarter Horse Association and the American Miniature Horse Association. Jonna also serves on the Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau and the American Heart Association. She lends her support to many charitable events in East Texas and has served with the Junior League of Tyler, Women’s Symphony League, Smith County Habitat for Humanity/Women Build, Mane Mission 2005, United Way Marketing Committee, the East Texas State Fair] Association Board of Directors, American Cancer Society Board of Directors, and the Tyler Youth Orchestra Board of Directors.