Dick Johnson came to St. Louis to teach tennis at St. Louis Country Club. He stayed 30 years. 

He came with credentials. At Kalamazoo College he was an NCAA All-American in singles and doubles and captained both the tennis and basketball teams. He taught in Rockford, in Chicago, in Germany. By the time he arrived in St. Louis he knew what he was doing. 

What he did between lessons was something else entirely. Over the course of his career Johnson amassed 44 U.S. national titles in singles and doubles, all four surfaces, age groups from 35s to 70s. He competed on six continents. He represented the United States in international team competition at the invitation of the USTA. In 2015 he won the ITF Super-Seniors World Individual 70s Championship in Umag, Croatia, and finished the year ranked number one in the world. 

In retirement he took up pickleball. In 2018 he won a national championship in that too. 

Dick Johnson died in April 2019 at 74. He was rehabbing from hip surgery at the time, getting ready for the USTA National 75s Hard Court Championships in May. 

He was always getting ready for the next one. 

(1995)