St. Francis woman is named Miss Milwaukee

Stephanie Marie Obst

A 22-year-old St. Francis woman has been named Miss Milwaukee 2012.

Stephanie Marie Obst, a dancer, won the title at the Marian Center for Non Profits Saturday night ahead of nine other women.

Obst was Miss Southern Wisconsin in 2010 and will make a second attempt at the Miss Wisconsin title on June 16 in Oshkosh. The daughter of Beth and Jeffery Obst, she is a junior advertising and journalism major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

First runner-up was Angela Marie Ahcin, 20, of Cudahy. Second runner-up was Raquel Faye Bruening, 19, of New Berlin.

Anyone living in the state was eligible to compete.

Meanwhile, the Miss Wisconsin state board of directors is seeking new directors and organizers to run the Miss Milwaukee and Miss Southern Wisconsin pageants.

The sisters who have organized and directed the pageant for the past 20 years, CoryAnn St. Marie-Carls and Michele R. St. Marie-Boelkow, announced Saturday that they plan to retire after this year's pageant.

Miss Southern Wisconsin 2011, Laura Marie Kaeppeler, 23, of Kenosha, is in Las Vegas to represent Wisconsin in the 2012 Miss America pageant. The competition will air Saturday on ABC.