Colleen Kay Hutchins (May 23, 1926 – March 24, 2010) was

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

1952.

Early life

Hutchins was a native of

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...

. Her brother, Mel Hutchins, later became a basketball player for the Milwaukee Hawks, Fort Wayne Pistons, and

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Pageantry

Hutchins was crowned as

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

's homecoming queen in 1947. In September 1951, she was crowned as

, the first Miss Utah to win the pageant.

Personal life

Hutchins met future husband Ernie Vandeweghe at a

basketball game at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

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 in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia. In and around Polynesia, islets are commonly referred to as Motu, a term used for the coral-rubble islets typical of the region. During a recent filming of the television show GT Hunt ...

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

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player CoCo Vandeweghe, 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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. The Vandeweghes resided in

Indian Wells, California Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley. Incorporated in 1967, it lies in between the cities of Palm Desert and La Quinta, California, La Quinta. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

Laguna Beach, California Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in Southern California along the Pacific Ocean, this seaside resort city has a mild year-round climate, scenic c ...

and

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. She died on March 24, 2010, in Newport Beach, at age 83.

References

Sources

* Garr, Arnold K., Donald Q. Cannon and Richard O. Cowan 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