CLEVELAND, Miss. — Former Delta State University First Lady Janice Collins Wyatt, an educator, alumna and longtime advocate for the university, died July 12. She was 91.
Delta State announced Friday that the university flag will fly at half-staff through sunset Saturday in honor of Wyatt’s life and legacy.
Wyatt served as Delta State’s first lady from 1975 until 1999 while her husband, President Emeritus Dr. Kent Wyatt, led the university. During that time, she became known for welcoming students, faculty, alumni and visitors into the President’s Home, hosting university events and supporting the institution’s academic and cultural mission.
Born Oct. 7, 1934, in Mayersville, Mississippi, Wyatt graduated from Rolling Fork High School before enrolling at Delta State Teachers College. As a student, she was a cheerleader, served on the Homecoming Court, participated in several campus organizations and was selected as the school’s first Miss Delta State College.
She married Kent Wyatt on March 4, 1956, earned a bachelor’s degree in education later that year and completed a master’s degree in elementary education in 1972.
After graduating, Wyatt taught elementary gifted education in Mobile, Alabama, before returning to Bolivar County in 1960, where she taught in Boyle and later at Pearman Elementary School in Cleveland.
As first lady, Wyatt served as president of the Delta State Faculty Wives and chaired the Special Events Committee that planned the opening celebrations for the Bologna Performing Arts Center in 1995. After her husband’s retirement, she continued serving the university through the Bologna Performing Arts Center Advisory Board and helped plan Delta State’s 75th and 100th anniversary celebrations.
The university recognized her contributions with numerous honors, including the Bologna Performing Arts Center President’s Award, the naming of the Janice Wyatt Summer Arts Program and the designation of the Janice C. Wyatt Conference Room in Kent Wyatt Hall.
Outside the university, Wyatt served in leadership roles with several civic organizations, including Junior Auxiliary, Crosstie Arts Council, National Library Week, Delta Home and Garden Club and the Cleveland Woman’s Club. She and her husband were longtime members of First Baptist Church in Cleveland, where she also taught Sunday school.
“Janice Wyatt devoted so much of herself to Delta State University and to the people who make this institution special,” Suzette Matthews, Delta State’s vice president for university advancement and executive director of the Delta State University Foundation, said in a statement. “Her kindness, grace and unwavering support touched generations of students, faculty, staff and alumni.”
Wyatt was preceded in death by her parents, Opal and Thomas Collins; her sister, Martha Hiter; and her twin brothers, Ike and Mike Collins.
She is survived by her husband of 70 years, President Emeritus Dr. Kent Wyatt; daughters Tara Mounger of Jackson and Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell of Ridgeland; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church in Cleveland, followed by a Celebration of Life service at 2:30 p.m.
The family requests memorials be made to the Janice Wyatt Mississippi Summer Arts Institute, the Kent and Janice Wyatt Student Retention Scholarship or the Kent and Janice Wyatt Faculty Development Fund through the Delta State University Foundation.
