Local woman competes in Ms. Senior Arizona pageant

Some dreams take longer than others to come true, but if you ask Ruth Kadoich, when they do, the taste is still sweet.

The Ahwatukee Foothills resident grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania, and while she plowed fields and milked cows, she dreamed of modeling clothes.

At 39, she graduated from a modeling school, and at 53 she won the Ms. Pennsylvania Golden Girl Pageant.

Next month, Kadoich, 83, will compete in the Ms. Senior Arizona pageant. While there is no swimsuit modeling in this pageant, there is a talent section.

“This is not a beauty pageant. One lady participating has Parkinson’s disease, but she sings beautifully,” she said. “It’s basically a pageant that shows that senior women still have contributions to offer society.”

Kadoich is actively engaged in her community, whether she finds herself helping a neighbor in need, sitting on a committee at the Ahwatukee Recreation Center or calling her state senators.

“I still call senators and representatives to let them know how I feel,” she said. “I tell them in a nice way, but I don’t kowtow to them.”

While out and about in the community, Kadoich always tries to help people in need.

“One of my favorite teachers used to tell me that if you cast your bread upon the water, it will come back buttered,” she said. “I always try to live by that and meet the needs of others.”

At the Ahwatukee Recreation Center (ARC), Kadoich participates in the women’s and dance clubs. She and her husband found the ARC to be a good resource for meeting Ahwatukee Foothills residents when they moved here 12 years ago.

“You need to extend yourself to people you don’t know, and then strangers become friends,” she said.

Kadoich’s warm personality has not gone unnoticed by the ARC’s staff.

“Ruth enjoys being around people and helping them out whenever possible,” said Amy Nicholls, ARC activities coordinator. “She is there to share her joy for life with other people.”

Kadoich celebrated her husband’s most recent birthday party at the ARC, and when she sang him a song people took notice of her voice.

“Ahwatukee resident John Rice, who is the father of two musically gifted sons, heard me sing and told me I ought to be singing more often,” she said. “I had heard about the pageant when we moved to Arizona 12 years ago, but with his encouragement I decided to go ahead and do it.”

Kadoich is practicing “If I Loved You” from Carousel, and her husband William is driving her to pageant practices every Saturday.

“I’m very excited for her,” William Kadoich said. “I’m her chauffeur, her assistant, everything.”

Currently there are 22 women competing in the pageant, and they meet to practice every Saturday morning for three hours. Before the last practice, they will be interviewed by the pageant judges.

“On the day of the actual pageant we begin rehearsing at 6 a.m., and we go right into the pageant at 6 p.m.,” Ruth Kadoich said. “I’ll have to take double vitamins that day.”

Before her first practice Kadoich expected there to be a competitive atmosphere at pageant practices, but she was pleasantly surprised by the camaraderie she found.

“After the pageant we all receive lifetime memberships to what they call the Cameo Club, whether we win or not,” she said. “The club does more than 60 charity shows all over Phoenix each year.”

Friends and family members from near and far will attend to cheer Kadoich at the pageant, which will be March 27 at North Canyon High School. One other Ahwatukee Foothills resident, Joan Czerneda, also will be participating in the pageant.

For more information on the event, call (602) 432-5657.