Senate Concurrent Resolution 582

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE OUTSTANDING WOMEN'S TENNIS LEGACY OF NATCHEZ NATIVE WEENONAH MONTGOMERY DEARING UPON THE OCCASION OF HER INDUCTION INTO THE DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS HALL OF FAME.

WHEREAS, the late Natchez native Weenonah Montgomery Dearing was inducted into the Delta State University Sports Hall of Fame, along with 11 other former athletes from the university; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Dearing, the late mother of State Senator Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, played Women's Tennis and Women's Basketball at Delta State University (DSU) in 1930 and 1931; and

WHEREAS, in tennis, Weenonah Dearing and her tennis partner at DSU won the State Championship and National Doubles Tennis Championship for the school in 1931, which was an outstanding achievement for the DSU Tennis Team and the first-ever National Championship earned by a Delta State University sports team; and

WHEREAS, Weenonah graduated from Natchez High School in 1930 and lettered four years in Tennis and Basketball. Her senior year in high school, at the age of 17, she won the Natchez City Singles Championship on grass courts; and

WHEREAS, in 1930, Weenonah Dearing, along with her Mixed Doubles Tennis partner, Billy Prister, won the Natchez City and Mississippi State Championships. She went on to DSU and there played basketball with Margaret Wade. The DSU Women's Basketball Team went on to win the Mississippi Valley and Mississippi State Championships in 1931; and

WHEREAS, Weenonah passed away in 1982, having lived long enough to see her son, Bob Dearing, elected to the State Senate in 1979. Weenonah Dearing's college sports career ended after her first year at DSU when she met Senator Dearing's father, Robert V, Dearing. They were married in 1932 and moved back to Natchez; and

WHEREAS, "Induction into the DSU Sports Hall of Fame is the highest honor a student-athlete or coach can achieve and we are honored to welcome 12 deserving members to this year's class," said Ronnie Mayers, DSU Director of Athletes. This year's class was inducted during a special halftime ceremony during Delta State's football game with West Florida; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we join the students, administration and alumni of Delta State University in commending the Women's Tennis Legacy of the late Natchez native Weenonah Montgomery Dearing upon the occasion of her posthumous induction into the Delta State University Sports Hall of Fame; and it is with great pride that we acknowledge this outstanding sports achievement which contributed to the standard of sports excellence at Delta State University:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize the outstanding Women's Tennis Legacy of Natchez Native Weenonah Montgomery Dearing upon the occasion of her induction into the Delta State University Sports Hall of Fame, and extend to the Dearing family our best wishes on this high honor.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the family of Mrs. Weenonah Montgomery Dearing, forwarded to the President of Delta State University and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.