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