“Venus Ramey, who used her victory as Miss America in 1944 to sell war bonds and make appearances on the vaudeville stage, has died at the age of 92, a funeral home in her native Kentucky said on Sunday.

Ramey, at age 82 in 2007, thwarted an attempt to steal equipment at her Kentucky farm by balancing with a walking stick and shooting out the tires of the suspects’ vehicle, local news reports at the time said.

After the incident, she appeared on national TV programs including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” where she quipped that she liked to start things with a bang.”