Lyn Gerber's father Larry was a hard act to follow. She did anyway. 

Larry Gerber was the athletic director at Principia College. His daughter returned to coach the women's tennis program in 1979 and didn't leave for thirty years. Over three stints and 257 wins, she built the Panthers into a program that won nine SLIAC conference titles, eight conference tournament championships, and an undefeated NCAA Division III national championship in 1983. She was named SLIAC Coach of the Year four times. She coached 90 First-Team All-Conference players. When the SLIAC inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 2016, she was the first woman in tennis it had ever honored that way. 

Then she built something else entirely. 

As co-founder of the Gateway Confluence Wheelchair Sports Foundation, Gerber started a wheelchair tennis tournament in St. Louis and grew it into something that reached well beyond the city. She directed regional and national events, including the USTA National Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Championship. In 2000 and 2001 she served as head coach of both the U.S. Women's Wheelchair Tennis Team and the U.S. Paralympic Women's Wheelchair Tennis Team. 

She was also ranked No. 1 in Muny singles three times. She knew what it took to win. She spent her career making sure other people knew it too. 

(2022)