Back in 1977, a 16 year-old charmer from Baguio City was crowned Bb. Pilipinas Universe and became the country’s representative to Miss Universe that was hosted by Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

Anna Lorraine Kier, being a teenager who hasn’t even reached debutante age, was both enticed and fascinated by the prospects of travelling to a place that is both strange and exotic. There was a mix of excitement and nervousness, but she went on with the competition the best that she could. In the end, Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad & Tobago was crowned as the first black Miss Universe in one of the editions that shut out all the Asian delegates in the semi-finals.

In a Q&A, let us ask Anna to take it from the time she crowned her successor, Jennifer Cortez. I chatted with her on Facebook the other day, and she was only too happy to indulge my request for an update. Here goes:

Whatever happened to you after Bb. Pilipinas?

“I left Manila to finish college in my hometown of Baguio City. I graduated with a Degree in AB Political Science from St. Louis University, got married to Bong Tabora the next year (1986) and had 3 children who are now all working. My son, Nicholo, is an Industrial Engineer, while my daughter Nichole is a biomedical engineer. My youngest, Diandra, finished Advertising Management.

Are you doing some business right now?

I have been in the events and wedding planning business (ANNAffairs) since 2002, but had to slow down and stay away from stress after having been diagnosed with thyroid papillary cancer this year. I had my operation last July 30 to take out the malignancy. I was declared – by God’s grace – cancer free. In January next year, I will go for another test to see if I am totally rid of malignancy.

How about higher studies?

In between, I enrolled in Masters in Development Management but had to withdraw because of my health.
Hopefully, next year will be my last.

What are your future plans?

I can’t cope up with a bucket list of things I still want to experience. One of them is finishing my Masters and traveling – something I can enjoy now that I am empty nesting.

Anything about you that a lot of people may not know?

I have one grandchild, Anne Marie Lorraine, who is 8 years old and the apple of my eye courtesy of my son.”

Can you share with us an interesting anecdote about your Miss Universe experience back in 1977?

“I can give you two.

From the time I landed in New York, where some of the candidates disembarked to take another plane to Dominican Republic, I was never given the right sash. I was Always mistaken as Miss Spain or some American rep. Each time, I had to correct them and say I was Miss Philippines and the common reaction was disbelief. They would always speak to me in Spanish. Hahaha!

The other one is quite interesting. You see, I was sick for the most part of the pageant and was bedridden because of blood poisoning from the vaccine which got infected. I was content being visited by the host doctor who was simply gorgeous. In a Latin American city like Santo Domingo, everyone is beautiful, male or female. I’m glad that then in college, we had to finish 12 units of Spanish. This tired me over trying to understand what that handsome doctor was trying to tell me. Haha!”

Wow! Thank you so much for that and for giving us updates about your life after Bb. Pilipinas.

You’re welcome, Norman. Please do let me know how I can enjoy your blog, too. You know how people of my age look at technology nowadays. .Haha