THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608020202
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Christine Points
LENGTH: 90 lines
Twenty-seven years ago, Jill Barnes Armstrong was a 5-year-old tagging along with her father to the Miss Portsmouth Seawall Pageant.
A city councilman for 30 years and mayor from 1968 to 1973, Jack Barnes took his daughter to most of the pageants. They even had dinner with a couple of the Miss Americas who made guest appearances here.
As a child, she and her friends would dress up in ballet costumes and pretend they were pageant contestants.
She couldn't wait to actually walk that runway.
When she was 15, her mother, the late Minnie Barnes, enrolled her in a Virginia Beach modeling school.
She did local modeling throughout high school.
In 1981, she competed in the Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival - a month after her mother died.
``It was a really hard time for me,'' Armstrong said. ``She had wanted to be there. She knew when she got sick that I was going to be in the pageant, but she didn't live long enough to see me in it.''
Eventually Armstrong's modeling career expanded. She moved to New York for a short time in 1985 then came back to continue local modeling.
In 1987 she left to model in Italy.
After a year, she realized that what she really wanted was a family, not a modeling career.
``I just got tired of it,'' Armstrong said. ``It wasn't what I wanted any longer. I wanted to have a family.''
So Armstrong returned and got a job as a Portsmouth police dispatcher.
That's where she met her husband, Mike Armstrong, now a narcotics detective with the Portsmouth Police Department. They married in 1990 and their first daughter, Taylor, was born in 1992.
In 1993, the pageant bug bit her again.
Armstrong was a runner-up in the Mrs. Virginia America Pageant in 1993.
``After we had our second child,'' said Armstrong, ``I wanted to try it again - give it one more shot.''
So, she entered the Mrs. Virginia United States Pageant in April and walked away with the crown.
Armstrong was selected second runner-up in the Mrs. United States Pageant last week in Las Vegas.
Name: Jill Barnes Armstrong
Nickname: Jill
Neighborhood: Elizabeth Manor
Number of years in Portsmouth: 32 years
Birthplace: Portsmouth
Birthdate: Nov. 30, 1963
Occupation: Former emergency 911 dispatcher for Portsmouth. Now household manager.
What job other than your own would you like? I would love to act in movies or on TV.
Marital status: Married to Mike Armstrong for six and a half years.
Children/grandchildren: Two daughters - Taylor, 4, and Meghan, 2.
Fondest childhood memory: Going places with my mother who passed away in 1981. Wherever we would go she would speak to people. When I would ask who they were, she would reply, ``I don't know, I just speak to everyone!''
First concert: Eagles Hotel California 1977 at the Hampton Coliseum.
What song or book title best describes your life? ``We've Only Just Begun'' by the Carpenters.
If you won the lottery, what's the very first thing you would buy? Two college educations for my daughters, then a Ford Explorer.
If you could trade places for just one day with anyone in the world, who would it be and why? My father, because he has so much wisdom from his lifetime and so I could better understand what his needs are with Parkinson's disease.
Biggest accomplishment: Meeting the most wonderful man, marrying him and having two beautiful daughters to raise together.
Most embarrassing moment: Being 16 years old in my first fashion show for Zelma Riven and The Famous. I was carrying a number which was ``14.'' When asked if I was ``14,'' I replied ``No, I'm 16!'' I was embarrassed!
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? To try not to worry so much over everything. I would be more relaxed like my husband.
Perfect way to spend the day: Doing anything with Mike and the girls, watching them all smile.
I can't resist: Reese's Cups
Favorite Portsmouth restaurant: Amory's in Churchland
Favorite Portsmouth hangout: New Fitness Health Club on Portsmouth Boulevard.
Biggest problem facing Portsmouth: Not enough revenue.
If you had three wishes for Portsmouth, what would they be? Getting more commercial development, lowering the crime rate and more emphasis on education.
Other than its small-town atmosphere, what do you like about living in Portsmouth? I've lived here all my life, there's no place like home. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Jill Barnes Armstrong by CNB