Maryland’s contestant in the 1962 beauty contest
later became a psychologist and did counseling
Shelda Jean Bond, a former Miss Maryland contestant in the Miss USA contest who later became a therapist and counselor, died of an apparent heart attack April 29 at her Sparks home. She was 75.
Born Shelda Jean Farley in Baltimore and raised on Delrey Avenue in Catonsville, she was the daughter of Samuel Farley, a foreman for R.E. Linder Steel firm, and Arvilla Lacy Farley.
She attended Catonsville High School and appeared weekdays on the popular “Buddy Deane Show,” a dance program broadcast live on WJZ-TV. She was a member of what was called “The Committee,” a group of regular performers on the show. The Deane program was a model for the film and musical “Hairspray.”
Family members said that her commute to the show took so long that she was forced to leave high school. She later earned an equivalency diploma.
By the early 1960s, she was a secretary at a Catonsville automobile dealership. She was winning local beauty contests and was a maid of honor to the queen at the 1962 Baltimore Automobile Show held at the Fifth Regiment Armory. She also danced with a partner on cruise ships, and her photo appeared on billboards for the annual Chesapeake Bay boat show.
“She does singing commercials on television and works as a fashion model in her spare time,” according to a 1962 article in The Baltimore Sun.
That year, she was the state’s representative in the Miss USA contest, a component of the Miss Universe promotion, which was held in Miami.
While she was at the Miss Maryland contest, she met her future husband, Frank Bond, who was a judge and would later found the Holiday Health spa chain. They were married in 1969.
“She was a triple threat — she had a marvelous wit, she was beautiful and she was intelligent,” her husband said.
She continued to model and founded an agency, LaShell Ltd., which supplied fashion models to department stores and social events.
After the birth of her son in 1972, she decided to change careers. She earned an associate’s degree from what was then Catonsville Community College and a bachelor’s degree with honors from Towson University. She also earned a master’s degree in psychology in 1982 from what is now Loyola University Maryland.
Mrs. Bond had a psychotherapy practice and was with Psych Associates in Towson. She was a member of the American Mental Health Counselors Association and the National Association of Licensed Professionals.
After her retirement, she lived part of the year in Florida.
Services were held May 12 at Sol Levinson & Bros.
In addition to her husband of 48 years, a developer, real estate manager and financial manager, survivors include a son, Baron Bond of Monkton; two brothers, Brent Farley and Brian Farley, both of Baltimore; and three grandchildren.
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
