Colleen Kay Hutchins (May 23, 1926 – March 24, 2010) was Miss America 1952.

Early life

Hutchins was a native of Arcadia, California. Her brother,

Mel Hutchins Melvin Ray Hutchins (November 22, 1928 – December 19, 2018) was an American basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1951 to 1958. Hutchins was selected by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks with the ...

, later became a basketball player for the

Milwaukee Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, and New York Knicks.

Pageantry

Hutchins was crowned as

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

's homecoming queen in 1947. In September 1951, she was crowned as Miss America, the first

Miss Utah The Miss Utah competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Utah in the Miss America pageant. Two Miss Utah titleholders have won the Miss America pageant. Lindsey Larsen of Lehi was crowned Miss Utah 2021 on June ...

to win the pageant.

Personal life

Hutchins met future husband

Ernie Vandeweghe Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe Jr. (September 12, 1928 – November 8, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. He was best known for playing for the New York Knicks of the NBA and for the athletic successes of his family. He and his wife ...

at a New York Knicks basketball game at Madison Square Garden after a friend introduced her to the team's forward. The couple married in May 1953, and had four children: son, Kiki, a professional basketball player and executive; daughter,

Tauna Tauna is an islet of the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia. In and around Polynesia, islets are widely known by the term Motu, from the term for the coral-rubble islets common to the region. During a recent filming of the television show GT ...

, an Olympic swimmer, son, Bruk; and daughter, Heather. Hutchins is also the grandmother of professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player

CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...

, daughter of Tauna. She was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

. The Vandeweghes resided in

Indian Wells, California Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley. Incorporated in 1967, it lies in between the cities of Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 Census, the city population was 4,958. The city hosts the sixt ...

Laguna Beach, California Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

and Palm Springs, California. She died on March 24, 2010, in

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws ...

, at age 83.

References

Sources

* Garr, Arnold K., Donald Q. Cannon and

Richard O. Cowan Richard Olsen Cowan (born 1934) is a historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and a former professor in the Church History Department of Brigham Young University (BYU). He was one of the longest-serving BYU faculty a ...

ed., ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History'', p. 526 1926 births 2010 deaths Latter Day Saints from Utah Miss America winners Brigham Young University alumni People from Palm Springs, California People from Arcadia, California People from Salt Lake City Miss America Preliminary Talent winners People from Indian Wells, California Vandeweghe family Latter Day Saints from California {{US-pageant-bio-stub