Apr 24, 2016 3 min read

Quite a few Observer-Reporter readers were quick to recognize the familiar smile of Phil Hagan, owner of an Oldsmobile-Cadillac dealership on Murtland Avenue in South Strabane Township in the 1960s and 1970s, in the current Mystery Photo. And just as many were able to identify Hagan’s friend, Ralph Guyton Sr. Those readers included some of Guyton’s eight children.

“They were really good friends,” said Nancy Sonson, one of Guyton’s three daughters. “Phil Hagan passed away two years ago, in 2014. His dealership later became Darr,” she said.

Greg Guyton told us the photo was taken at the National Auto Dealers Association convention in Miami, Fla., in January 1966.

“My grandfather was a tremendously impressive man, and if I could be half the man he was I would be proud,” Brandon Hudock said about his grandfather Guyton, who died in 2009.

Hudock recently announced he is running for the U.S. Senate as an Independent. “I have been wearing his hat for good luck,” he said.

Ralph Guyton Sr. owned a painting company in Pittsburgh at the time the picture was taken. According to another daughter, Rene Hudock, the two men became friends as members of Mt. Lebanon Country Club.

“We lived in Canonsburg and they lived in McMurray, but our families were very close,” Mrs. Hudock said. “I baby sat his kids.”

She said the Hagans moved to Sarasota, Fla., where Phil’s widow, Mary Kay Hagan, still lives.

This is the second appearance of the Hagan family in the Mystery Photo feature. Mary Kay was one of seven people our readers identified in October 2014 as the cast of “Calendar Capers,” a theater production of the McMurray Century Club in 1970.

So, you may wonder, who is the woman in the middle?

In Atlantic City, N.J., in September 1965, Deborah Bryant, 19, was crowned Miss America 1966. That contest was at the peak of its popularity at the time, its broadcasts topping all other programming. So, it is no wonder that the newspaper was asked to produce extra copies of the men’s photo with such a celebrity.

According to the online resource Wikipedia, Bryant, who was Miss Kansas 1965, graduated at the top of her high school class, attended Columbia College and graduated from the University of Kansas.

During her year of service as Miss America, she spoke in support of “Project Concern,” which provided medical support to undeveloped countries. She remains active in community service for numerous charitable projects in Arizona, where she lives with husband, Brent. Together they have five children and four grandchildren.

Look for another Mystery Photo in next Monday’s Observer-Reporter.