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Mrs. Pennsylvania honors late brother during year-long reign

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Amanda Leber
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Amanda Leber of McCandless won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.
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Amanda Leber of McCandless won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.
njleber4032218
Amanda Leber of McCandless won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.
njleber6032218
Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack, has had his memory kept alive by his sister, Amanda Leber, of McCandless, who won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in his honor.
njleber2031518jpeg
Amanda Leber, of McCandless, won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.
njleber5032218
Amanda Leber
njleber031518jpeg
Amanda Leber of McCandless won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.
njleber3032218
Amanda Leber of McCandless won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.
njleber4032218
Amanda Leber of McCandless won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.
njleber6032218
Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack, has had his memory kept alive by his sister, Amanda Leber, of McCandless, who won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in his honor.
njleber2031518jpeg
Amanda Leber, of McCandless, won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant last March and has spent the past year focusing on the importance of heart health in honor of her late brother, Michael Pope, who died at the age of 23 from a heart attack.

Beauty pageants are more than gowns and crowns.

For pageant veteran Amanda Leber, 29, of McCandless, winning the 2017 Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant was a way to honor her late brother, Michael Pope, and help raise awareness about heart health.

“Mike passed away in 2015 at the age of 23. He was playing basketball when he had a heart attack and died,” Leber said.

As a way to deal with her grief, she entered the Mrs. International Pageant last March, which is open to married women ages 21 to 56.

Contestants competed in an interview, an evening gown competition, and fitness-wear contest.

More importantly, according to Leber, the pageant called for pageant winners to raise awareness about a particular cause that is important to them, and also to support the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women program, a national movement to end heart disease, the leading cause of death in women in the United States. It kills women at a rate of about one per minute.

For her personal cause, Leber, who is a full-time kindergarten teacher and certified Zumba instructor, set out to promote a heart-healthy lifestyle through high-energy dance fitness classes.

“It's a way to bring people together to work to improve cardio health. I knew I wanted to become an advocate for the American Heart Association because of my brother, so I found my own unique way to do that,” she said.

Throughout her year-long reign as Mrs. Pennsylvania International, Leber hosted Zumba classes at a variety of venues and was a guest instructor at others. Her final class was a free Zumba Pop-Up Class, held March 11 at The Block Northway in Ross, in which 12 participants engaged in a rigorous 60-minute dance workout.

Leber also participated in a Go Red for Women Fashion Show last spring. She took part in charity bike rides, the American Heart Association's Heart Walk, and was a special guest at the Beaver/Butler County Heart Ball, which raised about $20,000 for the American Heart Association.

“Our pageants are an opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of today's married women,” said Jodi Cessna, state director of the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant. “I feel one of the greatest purposes of our pageant is to provide the opportunity for women to raise awareness about a particular cause that is their passion.”

Leber won the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant on March 17, 2017 in Altoona. Her husband, Chris, was there to escort her across the stage during the evening gown segment, and crowned her when she won.

Five months later, she advanced to the national level of the Mrs. International Pageant system, which was held in Charleston, W. Va. She placed 15th out of a total of 67 contestants.

Leber began entering pageants when she was a student at Slippery Rock University. She held the title of Miss Butler County in 2011, Miss Greater Juniata Valley in 2012, and Miss Pennsylvania in 2014.

“Mike had supported me with the pageants and was with me when I was crowned Miss Pennsylvania in 2014. He's the reason I'm back. I miss him every day, but am proud to share his story and to work with the American Heart Association,” she said.

“I took something tragic in my life and turned it into something positive. I know Mike is proud of me for that.”

Laurie Rees is a Tribune-Review contributor.