The producer and executive director of the Miss Butler County USA pageant, Marilyn E. Kane, died Friday morning at Butler Memorial Hospital following an illness, according to an obituary. She was 78.

Kane was also the producer and executive director of the teen version of the pageant. She died after succumbing to an illness that was described as “lengthy” in her obituary.

Kane was born in Lyndora, and she graduated from Butler High School in 1959. She married her husband, Paul Kane, in 1961. She received a certification to teach modeling through the former World Modeling Association of New York City and received casting training in New York City and Los Angeles. Throughout her life, she accomplished much both in and out of the fashion industry.

Kane was also the owner of Kane Modeling School and Agency in downtown Butler. She opened the business in 1970. There she taught personal improvement, modeling and acting for students ages 3 to adult. She also trained, cast and booked individuals who went on to have roles in soap operas and movies. She was also a fashion model photographer, according to her obituary.

She was a recipient of the 1991-92 International Woman of the Year Award from the International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England, in recognition of her services to the modeling and show business industries.

Marilyn Kane