Mrs. Model Mom Universe

Advocacy rooted in charity

By Demi Braque

Jane Camus Knof has pageant blood running in her veins. Her paternal aunt, Evelyn Camus, who won Binibining Pilipinas-International in 1971, placed 2nd runner-up in the Miss International finals. True to her blood, she placed 2nd runner-up in the Mrs. Abu Dhabi pageant in 1997. She, however, joined the pageant circuit not for the glamour but for its charitable causes. That’s why her title as Mrs. Noble Advocacy Queen 2019 couldn’t be more apt.

Born in Maasin, Southern Leyte where she lived her childhood years, she and her family moved to Metro Manila where she grew up and continued her studies. She attended the Far Eastern University and the MMC where she obtained her medical technology degree. Even at a young age, and coming from a family of means, she is fondly remembered as somebody who shares whatever things she has, especially food. And the habit stayed on.

As the reigning Mrs. Model Mom Universe (MMMU), Jane is a charitable person and willing helps, quietly, most of the time - a virtue at the very core of the pageant organization’s platform. MMMU believes there is beauty in helping people. “I believe in a platform that helps others in need,” shared the 53-year-old mother of four. As a continuing gesture, Jane is extending her generosity to the Badiang Elementary School in Maasin, Southern Leyte, where her mom used to teach.

Married to John Knof, a retired aircraft engineer, the couple live in Clearwater, Florida, home to North America’s most beautiful beachfronts. Jane has been invited to be part of pageant jurors in Dubai, Bahrain, Missouri and Kansas in the USA, as well as the Philippines. 

A nurse, medical technologist, and cellulite therapist by profession, Jane is the second appointed titleholder to wear the MMMU crown. She follows the footsteps of Malaysian queen Claire See who blazed a beautiful trail in 2019. The next MMMU local and international pageants will unfold in the last quarter of 2021.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Jane frequently visits the country. She’s here every two months or so. “I want to be remembered as someone who gives a helping hand, even without a beauty title to speak of,” Jane said at the close of our overseas phone call.