Hela Yungst Hochman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hela Yungst January 15, 1950 |
| Died | February 24, 2002 Mountainside, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Spouse | Peter Hochman |
| Children | 1 |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss New Jersey 1970 |
| Major competition(s) | Miss America 1971 |
Hela Yungst Hochman (January 15, 1950 - February 24, 2002),[2][3] also known as Hela Young, was an American television entertainer and beauty pageant winner. She was a promoter of Holocaust awareness and a former president of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.
Yungst was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Eva (née Faiman) and Henry; both were survivors of The Holocaust.[4] The family moved to the United States in 1956[5] where she first lived in Newark, New Jersey.[6] She was raised in Hillside, New Jersey and graduated from Hillside High School in 1967, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. She graduated from Newark State College (now Kean University) with a B.A. in music education and theatre.
Yungst was Miss New Jersey 1970, representing the state in the Miss America 1971 pageant in Atlantic City. The Women's Liberation Front demonstrated at the event.[7] Yungst was not a finalist, however,[8] losing to Miss Texas 1970, Phyllis George. In August 1971, Yungst traveled to Vietnam with George; Miss Nevada 1970, Vicky Jo Todd; Miss New Jersey 1970, Cheryl Browne; Miss Iowa 1970, Karen Shields; Miss Arkansas 1970, Donna Connelly; and Miss Texas 1970 (George's replacement), Belinda Myrick.[9] They participated in a 22-day United Service Organizations tour for American troops there. The tour began in Saigon.[9][10][8] Browne later commented that she thought "it was one of the last Miss America groups to go to Vietnam."[8]
Yungst was a performer on stage and in films, television commercials and soap operas, appearing in Guiding Light and All My Children.[11] She changed her name to Hela Young and became the New Jersey Lottery hostess in January 1977 on NJN drawing the nightly winning numbers.[12] She left television in November 2001 due to illness.
She resided with her husband and daughter in Mountainside, New Jersey and died in 2002 due to cancer.[13]
The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education presents "The Hela Young Award" each year "to honor a person in recognition of outstanding work in the community for the improvement of human relations among diverse peoples and for the improvement of the human condition."[14]