WARD PARKER

In tennis, love means nothing. For Ward and Merceina, it meant everything. They met at the University of Wisconsin. They married in 1938 and had two sons. Just enough for a doubles game. 

That's when the Parkers became a tennis dynasty. 

For his part, Ward was St. Louis' most prolific city champion with over 100 local titles, including a record 27 city doubles championships. He won numerous Missouri Valley titles and took home the National Father-Son Clay Court title with his son Jim in 1960 and 1962. Age was just a number to Ward. He dominated the Senior Olympics, winning medals in track, swimming, and tennis, including the National Senior Olympics Doubles title with Ralph Hart. 

Tennis wasn't even his only sport. Ward was a pole vaulter, considered the father of cross country in Missouri, and inducted into the Missouri State High School Track and Cross Country Hall of Fame in 1979. 

He didn't just play the game, he grew it. For two decades, he and Merceina ran the District Junior Training Program, shaping a generation of St. Louis tennis players. He coached championship teams at Blewitt High School, served as president of both the Muny and District Tennis Associations, and directed the Esquire Senior Tournament for more than 35 years. Ward Parker was a legend. That's a fact. But he would most likely want to be remembered as a devoted husband, a loving father, an educator and coach, who just happened to have a wicked topspin forehand. 

(1991)