Ellen Rowena Meade Thomas (Born November 5, 1952 / Died August 27, 2023) was an American beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Florida 1973.
Meade studied five days a week in ballet as an elementary student and later began training as a roller skater, practicing for hours on a concrete slab her father built in the family's backyard.
With a performance set to a backdrop of Stravinsky ballet, "Firebird," Meade competed in and won the North American National Championships at the age of 14.
Mentored by Rene Hardin, she began by competing in several small local pageants and grabbed the title of Miss Manatee County at the age of 20.
Meade took home a win in the talent portion of the competition, but Rebecca Ann King was crowned Miss America 1974.
It was in Arkansas where she also met her future husband, Craig Thomas, who, at the time, was the star of the Li'l Abner show in the Dogpatch USA themepark.