Nanci Wudel was a runner up in a patriotic essay contest sponsored by Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC. Wudel wrote about her father's military service and how she learned to appreciate America's freedoms while living abroad. "We openly cried to be back home where we knew what freedom meant - the right to live as responsible citizens who cared as much about others' freedoms as our own," Wudel wrote in her essay.

"Growing up in the military, my whole life has been about patriotism and appreciation for America," Wudel said in a phone interview. "I jumped at the chance to express my feelings about being an American ... I was so impressed and touched by the comments and the feelings that were portrayed in the other essays."

Wudel is the director of the Mesa, Ariz. Easter Pageant "Jesus the Christ," is a video producer and owns Nanci's Frozen Treats, a supplier of frozen yogurt. She resides in Arizona with her husband, John Wudel.