2015 Inductee Marilyn Dechert
On September 16, 2015, IWGA was privileged to honor Marilyn Dechert into the IWGA Hall of Fame. She was nominated by Jan Devore and Ann Harshman. The award took place at the 46th annual State Senior Women’s Amateur Golf Tournament at the Country Club of Decatur. 
Marilyn is a nine time champion of the Decatur City amateur, a five time champion of the Decatur Senior Women’s Championship. She competed for the Big Blue in the National collegiate Championships her freshman year at Millikin—winning the consolation Championship in 1951-52.
Marilyn finished 2nd in the 1988 IWGA Illinois Women’s Senior Championship. She has competed in numerous IWGA events. She took over a six-year program that had won two consecutive college conferences of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships, and finished sixth as a team at the 2000 NCAA Championships.
She served as the Millikin head coach for 12 years, retiring in 2014. The Big Blue Coach was named CCIW Coach of the Year in 2014.
Marilyn’s husband, daughter, son and daughter-in-law were there to help celebrate; she was presented with an etched crystal vase with a dozen red roses, and shown the traveling plaque with her name added to the previous honorees.
By Suzanne Younger